Patience was the order of the day at Bramall Lane where the queue trailed out of the ticket office, crept past the players' entrance and along the rear of the Tony Currie Stand and towards the large picture of Alan Woodward. There was little trace of celebration in the air. Most waited in a nervous hush. Pessimism usually prevails in S2 where they are painfully familiar with football's ability to punish the optimist. They will proceed with caution but some of those Sheffield United supporters must have been fighting the urge to dance. Local hero Billy Sharp is nearing promotion to the Premier League with Sheffield United Victory against already-relegated Ipswich on Saturday will virtually clinch promotion, easing the Blades six points clear of their closest challengers Leeds, who will have two to play and an inferior goal difference. The Premier League beckons after a 12-year exile. Back to the top with dreams of rekindling the glory days of Currie and Woodward. Less than three miles away, at the club's training ground on the top of one of Sheffield's seven hills, Chris Wilder was promising the assembled media he was going to be about as entertaining as Geoff Boycott in grim pursuit of another century at Headingley. 'How boring am I going to be?' said Wilder, as he mimed a solid forward defensive. 'Like Boycott, the Western Terrace has emptied.' Boring does not come naturally to Sheffield United's manager. Born in the city and raised as a Blades fan, he had two spells as a player at the club and was present when they were promoted to the top flight under Dave Bassett in 1992. 'A great period for the club,' said Wilder. 'I played in the back end of that season. Fortunately for me I tore my ankle ligaments, otherwise I would have been at Charlton Athletic. That's how fate happens. I came back here and played in the old first division.' Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder had two spells with the club as a player 'Harry' Bassett, with seven promotions on his record, has mentored Wilder through the astonishing rise of his coaching career, which started with his mates in Sheffield's Sunday League and has turned full circle back to the steel city via Alfreton, Halifax, Oxford and Northampton. 'I'm tight with Harry,' said the 51-year-old. 'Even though he tried to get rid of me about 33 times. I was like a rubber bullet, I kept bouncing back. I've a huge amount of respect for what he did for the club. He transformed it.' There are parallels. Just as there are with Neil Warnock who led Sheffield United back to the Premier League in 2006. No-nonsense managers, connected to their audience, serving up high-energy football and demanding maximum effort from their players. 'Chris has delivered pride, passion, a work ethic and he's played fantastic attacking football,' said Chris Morgan, captain in the team promoted under Warnock. 'He's given the supporters something to cheer. It's been a long, hard 12 years. We know there's still work to do but promotion would be a massive boost to the whole city.' Former Sheffield United captain Chris Morgan praised Wilder for the work he has done Like Barnsley-born Morgan, Wilder's Blades are captained by a local hero: Billy Sharp, 33 years old and improving with age. Sharp has 24 goals this season although he is not expected to be fit for the Ipswich game as he recovers from injury. It is 12 years since Sheffield United crashed out of the top flight, relegated by one goal on goal difference amid cries of injustice as West Ham escaped with an unlikely win on the last day at Manchester United, with the only goal scored by Carlos Tevez. This episode still rankles. The Premier League ruled that Tevez and Javier Mascherano had been signed illegally and fined West Ham £5.5million but did not deduct points and the Blades went down. Eventually, they won the legal case, and West Ham were ordered to pay compensation of £35m but this would not make up for the sense of lost opportunity at Bramall Lane. Wilder admitted he considered quitting the club last year amidst a boardroom power struggle As the Premier League enjoyed its global boom, Sheffield United slid into League One where they languished for six years while nurturing talent which includes England international defenders Kyle Walker and Harry Maguire. The promotion bid in 2012 was derailed when 29-goal top scorer Ched Evans was jailed for rape in April. His conviction was quashed four years later but Evans was in prison as the Blades were pipped to automatic promotion by Sheffield Wednesday, finished third with 90 points and then lost on penalties at Wembley, the sixth of eight successive defeats in the play-offs. As Wilder puts it with a hint of South Yorkshire understatement, the club has 'been through the mill a bit'. Chairman Kevin McCabe, with his long association on the board, has led Sheffield United steadily and with integrity through these years of instability and heartache. Now, with the club three points from the Premier League, McCabe and Prince Abdullah Bin Moasaad Bin Abuldaziz al Saud, a co-owner since 2013, are locked in a fight for control and braced for a date in the High Court next month. Wilder admits he considered quitting last summer as the boardroom power struggle threatened to impact on transfer plans. 'I was open about it,' he said, but an agreement was reached, and the manager signed a new contract, assuaged by the return of Stephen Bettis as chief executive and reinforced his squad with the help of £11.5m from the sale of David Brooks to Bournemouth. 'I've got a clear vision of how I want this club to go forward, and I think what the players and staff have achieved allowed me to give my opinion. 'I'm an employee and I respect that status but I'm the type of guy who walks in the front door and I'll walk out of the front door if it's not right. 'There's no threats but it has to be right and I have to say the two owners got together and we improved.' Wilder responded and stands on the brink of completing a full set of promotions having led Oxford into League Two, Northampton into League One and the Blades into the Championship. Beat Ipswich and they might even break into a little jig at Bramall Lane. All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility