Sheffield United v Cardiff City: Paul Heckingbottom keen for Chris Basham to agree Sheffield United contract extension

What is clear is Paul Heckingbottom wants Chris Basham to stay at Bramall Lane and the centre-back wants not just a ninth season but a 10th at a club that has captured his heart.

He also wants the Blades back in the Premier League and that, for him, has to take precedence now, which is why three points today could be so important.

There are certainly frustrations at the moment, none more so than losing at home for the first time under Heckingbottom against Reading in their last Bramall Lane outing, but when the manager spelt out some home truths afterwards, they were very positive ones.

This week has been one of positivity for Basham, making his return at Bristol City on Monday after eight weeks out with a medial cruciate knee ligament injury, hearing of potential investment in the club when American Henry Mauriss claimed on Thursday night to have had a £115m offer to buy it accepted, then Friday’s news that captain and top-scorer Billy Sharp has been the first of United’s old guard to have a contract extension triggered. Basham is hoping he is next.

Sharp’s hamstring injury has also cleared up, with the top-scorer expected to feature today.

“After Reading we needed to have that sit down,” says Basham, whose unwanted time on the sidelines has given him perspective others would have struggled for in the hurly-burly of a relentless Championship schedule.

“It was, ‘Look lads, it’s done, we’re going to Bristol, but when I took over we all said the target was to make the play-offs. You’re in there, it’s in your hands now.’

“The point at Bristol put it even more in our hands. We’ve got three games to go, can we keep it in our hands, let’s not make it a rollercoaster and crack on.”

Basham was speaking before the announcements about Mauriss and Sharp, and new contracts were very much in people’s thoughts. Like Sharp, he has been in negotiations for some time, though the club did not need to negotiate at all for what ended up happening, simply taking up their option to extend the captain’s deal by 12 months, something they can unilaterally decide to do with Basham too.

What Basham firmly believes, though, is that Heckingbottom wants him to stay, just as he does.

“I’ve gone on about it, I’ve had sit-down chats with the manager about the future,” he says. “He’s told me where I’m at. I would like the club to make some moves pretty quickly but I’m really focussing on letting my agent deal with that side of things and concentrating on playing football because it’s really important my mind’s just clear. We’ve got three games to go, maybe the play-offs.

“The manager tells the truth, he wants me to be here and see out 10 years and maybe past that. If so that’d be great.

“I’ve had ups and down and stops and starts, it’s been fantastic and long may it continue. And I’m sure it will.

“I’m waiting for the club and my agent to hopefully get the ball moving as quickly as possible. I wouldn’t say it’s stopped but I’m looking forward to the club getting something across.”

It is not just words with Heckingbottom. Under predecessor Slavisa Jokanovic, Basham was in and out of the side, his long-term prospects suddenly bleak.

But for Heckingbottom to pitch Basham in at Ashton Gate ahead of Croatian international Filip Uremovic on the back of two training sessions shows what he really thinks about the 33-year-old centre-back.

“When he came in and put the formation back to how it was, that was so important to me,” says Basham. “He wasn’t just training with the Under-23s (when Jokanovic was manager), he was standing in he shadows watching training and he knows how important me and the senior pros are to the team. He wants to keep that if he can.

“For him to throw me straight back into the team was a special moment for me. I trained twice with the team so I am a bit sore.

“I think the idea was to get me back as soon as possible so I’m firing for the next few games because they’re so important to him as a manager and us as a club,” he said.

“The physios have been fantastic, working their socks off with me and doing things I’ve never seen before – hot baths, shocks to my system.

“I played 96 minutes and I was a little bit rusty at times, I’ll hold my hand up, but it needed to happen because I needed to be back winning games for the team.”

Extra time on the sofa has given Basham a greater appreciation of the Championship.

“Everybody’s been beating everybody and that’s why it’s been so exciting for the neutral,” he says. “I’ve been watching different games of football and realising, ‘Dear me, a team can go and win 4-0 when they’re sitting bottom of the league or third bottom.’

“It’s been a very crazy league and I think with Covid out of the way everyone’s just enjoying football again.

“The Championship’s very vulnerable at the moment so being in the top six is important.

“Me stepping away has made me realise the lads are doing ever so well to just keep going.

“Being sixth is fantastic. We would have snapped your hands off for that coming away from Reading (in November) before the (last) manager got sacked.

“We’re looking forward to it, we’re excited, we’ve got a player whose unstoppable at the moment in Morgan (Gibbs-White), he’s just phenomenal and a key talent, Sharpy’s back hopefully and Iliman (Ndiaye) was fantastic at the weekend. It’s all looking good and the lads are buzzing.”

No wonder he wants more.