JAKE Wright’s first return to Valley Parade ended with a red card, a heavy defeat and his manager admitting the defender had got carried away by trying too hard.

Six years on, the former City trainee heads back as a defensive lynchpin for Chris Wilder’s rampant Blades.

The impetuous player who was given his marching orders in a tangle with James Hanson during a 5-0 home thumping of Wilder’s Oxford is long gone.

Wright played nearly 300 games in seven years with the U’s, including a 2-1 victory at Valley Parade in 2013, and skippered them to promotion in May.

He was reunited with Wilder this summer for a third time – they had first worked together at Halifax following his Bantams exit.

Wilder has been a major influence on Wilsden-born Wright’s career and this latest move is paying dividends for both parties.

Seven Sheffield United games in, Wright is yet to finish on the losing side.

The centre half released a decade ago by Colin Todd for “being too small” believes he has finally got his big chance.

The only point he has to prove these days is not with his hometown club but showing that he can be a mainstay of the Blades’ latest promotion bid.

Wright said: “I have had to graft in my career. I have been in the Conference for a few years, League Two for a few years.

“This is the biggest club I have ever played for, the best opportunity I have ever had.

“I don’t want to throw that away, and look back in a few years and think I didn’t give it everything. “You should be grateful for what you have. I come here and facilities are fantastic whereas at Halifax, we would train on park pitches, car parks, and basically anything we could find.”

Wright has had to adapt to a new system of three central defenders. Tuesday’s clean sheet at Shrewsbury was their first on the road this season.