Sheffield United 1 Wigan Athletic 0: Stroll in the sunshine becomes a bumpy ride but Blades get the job done

And when it did not come, Bramall Lane began to fidget anxiously worrying about the possibility of a sucker-punch.

That did not happen either.

In the end, the Blades had to settle for a 1-0 win which was hugely important and grateful received, just hard work getting to.

"At this stage of the season you can't call any win a comfortable win but if that was the beginning of the season, you'd be looking at how you played and it was a dominant 1-0," reflected manager Paul Heckingbottom.

He was right about that. Wigan only had one shot on target but Wes Foderingham needed to make a good save to keep out Thelo Aasgaard's header at point-blank range.

So it could have been different.

But the couldas, the wouldas and the shouldas mean nothing at this stage of the campaign. All that matters to Sheffield United is what Sheffield United do, and they have won four matches on the spin. Keep this up and they will be in next season’s Premier League.

"We've earnt the right to just be bothered about us, how we prepare, how we perform and how we get results. That's it," said Heckingbottom, as ever the voice of common-sense as others look to drum up a drama.

A win is a win at the stage of the season where fortunes can turn on a single result but this was a Good Friday, not a brilliant one for the Premier League-chasing Blades.

When Ndiaye was dribbling around like it was all a bit too easy for him, when James McAtee and Tommy Doyle were picking passes as if this was still academy football, when Sander Berge was taking potshots, a more comfortable afternoon looked in prospect.

But nobody could say their win was lucky, not that anyone of a red-and-white persuasion would have cared a jot if it was.

Buoyed by two dropped Luton Town points in the early kick-off, they came flying out of the blocks.

Jayden Bogle was back in the side not instead of George Baldock but with him, the senior wing-back on the left to cover for the ill Max Lowe.

Bogle and Baldock are good players in their different ways but the former's attacking thrust felt right for a game against a team fighting the tide on and off the field. He won two corners inside five minutes.

It only took eight for the hosts to lead, McAtee wriggling between two players then driving a low cross Ndiaye slid onto for a simple tap-in.

You would have put good money on the floodgates opening.

Doyle played a lovely ball Baldock headed into Billy Sharp's path but on his first Championship start since February 11, the captain was denied his seventh goal in six games against Wigan by a good Ben Amos save.

McAtee shrugged off James McClean's challenge only to be robbed by a thundering Tendayi Darikwa tackle in the penalty area.

Diaye produced some mouth-watering skill, helped by a lucky rebound, only to be flattened by Christ Titehi after nutmegging him. Doyle put the free-kick over.

Another brilliant dribble should have ended with Ndiaye's second goal but he could not beat the diligent McClean on the line.

Berge's nutmeg a couple of minutes later showed he too was having fun.

But it was only 1-0, and free-kicks conceded by Sharp and Ndiaye on the edges of the penalty area late in the half served as a warning that concentration had to be maintained.

The second period began with another burst of heavy artillery, Sharp's header into the ground tipped over, Doyle's shot going the same way and McAtee just wide after Ndiaye bided his time to return the lovely pass chipped to him.

But in the 60th minute a couple of warning shots came the other way, substitute Tom Naylor having a shot blocked and Foderingham’s tip-over before the ball could be cleared.

Callum Lang headed wide at a corner and Jack Robinson needed to make a great challenge to deny him later. Josh Magennis headed a cross wide from far too much space.

The hosts were still the better side, the more comfortable in possession – but comfortable was exactly the wrong word for the terraces.

John Egan headed a corner wide after a mini-wrestling bout, Berge shot over after driving forward and Oliver Norwood's chip sailed the wrong side of the crossbar. Ndiaye's delicate chip was off target too.

The second goal would just not come. But the win at least did.

Sheffield United: Foderingham; Ahmedhodzic, Egan, Robinson; Doyle (Fleck 79); Baldock, Berge, McAtee (Norwood 65), Bogle; Ndiaye, Sharp (McBurnie 65).

Unused substitutes: Davies, Basham, Clark, Osula.

Wigan Athletic: Amos; Hughes, Whatmough, Rekik (Bennett 46); Lang, Tiehi (Naylor 58), McClean; Darikwa (Keane 71), Power, Aasgaard (Nyambe 87); Fletcher (Magennis 58).

Unused substitutes: Jones, Caulker.

Referee: A Davies (Hampshire).