Sheffield United's familiar fight is back but James McAtee's finesse still needed to finish the job

It was not so much the sight of manager Chris Wilder pumping his fists in celebration again, dancing alongside the play like he was desperate to get a tackle in himself at one point in the second half, or whirling his arms to urge the crowd into one last push.

It was more the return of the Sheffield United football seen in patches this season but alarmingly absent in others.

Never mind the fan in the dugout, the sight of Jack Robinson throwing himself in the way of a Neal Maupay shot or his central defensive partner Anel Ahmedhodzic doing the same to Ben Mee, or three team-mates running over to chest-bump Gustavo Hamer for tracking his man all the way back to the corner flag was what the majority of the other 28,000 or so Blades came for.

Pep Guardiola and others may turn football into an artform but there is still something to be said for turning up on a minging afternoon and watching 11 professional footballers give their all for the badge James McAtee kissed after scoring the only goal against Brentford.

You could hear how much they appreciated it. Wilder's stoppage-time cheerleading was his most unnecessary act all afternoon. Had Bramall Lane been much more pumped-up by then it might have burst.

If the Blades cannot reproduce that more often than not they will be relegated.

The fight for their first clean sheet this season is a minimum requirement and Paul Heckingbottom's inability to coax it out of them against Bournemouth and Burnley, despite his best efforts, led to the crowd-pleasing change in the dugout.

At a time when the self-styled best league in the world is living up to its own hype, fight alone is not enough.

McAtee decided the game with a rare glint of quality.

It sprang from a defensive calamity, Vitaly Janelt running in front of a clearance by former Barnsley centre-back Ethan Pinnock and deflecting it to Hamer. He picked out McAtee, in far too much space, to take a touch and a curl a shot in from the corner of the penalty area.

It was Manchester City quality from the Manchester City loanee, the Blades' first shot on target in the first added minute of a half when, in the words of Brentford manager Thomas Frank, "Sheffield United had nothing but were difficult".

In fairness, Andre Brooks' turn and nutmeg as he drove through his own half at 0-0 to show the "bravery" Wilder demanded pre-match on only his second Premier League start was another moment of quality. It was one of the reasons he got his second standing ovation of the week when substituted 10 minutes before Sydie Peck's first-team debut.

And the Blades had more than Brentford, whose only shot on target all day came from a Yoane Wissa volley which both he and Wes Foderingham caught nicely.

The only real mark the Bees left on the game was from Frank Onyeka’s studs planted just above Vinicus Souza's ankle 29 minutes in.

The best league in the world does not have the best officials. Referee Stuart Attwell saw it as a booking and after a long look at X-rated freeze frames and replays, Rob Jones backed up his mate as Chris Kavanagh did when the Merseysider gave the Blades a dodgy penalty for their previous win this season.

Reducing Brentford to 10 men for an hour should have made the job a lot easier but it felt like the Blades needed to win one the hard way.

They grew in positivity once in front, even if their substitutions seemed designed for the opposite.

On paper, taking Will Osula off to bring a scuffler of a midfielder into the forward line of a 4-3-3 was cagey but Anis Slimane forced a save with his first touch, another with a long-ranger, and should have done better than lash into the side netting in the final 10 minutes of normal time.

"I enjoy hard work, tackles and running and I have technical quality as well," he reminded those who had not been paying attention.

Moving Cameron Archer to lone centre-forward – lonelier still when the Blades shifted to 3-5-1-1 – only encouraged him to try for his trademark goal, carrying the ball forward and smashing it, a couple of times.

"We could have retreated and retreated and we didn't," said Wilder.

But all the while it was backed up by the resilience he demanded.

"From the first day he told us about showing the fans every single game we want to work really hard to get the points," revealed Slimane. "It's about high intensity, running and tackles, but he also wants us to be better with the ball and create chances.

"He said we had to play for the badge and get the fans alive. Every tackle from the first minute they kept pushing with us. We have to keep playing that way."

Maintaining the energy and striking a balance will be tough, but fans will look forward to seeing if they can do it at Chelsea on Saturday.

Sheffield United: Foderingham; Bogle, Ahmedhodzic, Robinson, Trusty; Hamer, Souza, Brooks (Lowe 72); McAtee (Peck 81), Osula (Slimane 54), Archer. Unused substitutes: Davies, Traore, Thomas, One, Larouci, Seriki.

Brentford: Flekken; Ghoddos, Pinnock, Mee, Janelt; Onyeka (Yarmoliuk 46), Norgaard, Baptiste (Damsgaard 66); Wissa, Maupay, Lewis-Potter (Olakigbe 66). Unused substitutes: Goode, M Jorgensen, Strakosha, Peart-Harris, Roerslev, Adedokun.

Referee: S Attwell (Nuneaton).