United fail to regain second spot after derby draw

Sheffield United lost ground in the Sky Bet Championship promotion race as they were held to a goalless draw by Sheffield Wednesday in the Steel City derby at Hillsborough.

After wins on Saturday for leaders Norwich and second-placed Leeds, the Blades missed the chance to return to the top two - although Wednesday were good value for a point.

The visitors carved out the only meaningful chance of a drab first half when Oliver Norwood’s cross found Gary Madine at the back post, only for Keiren Westwood to deny the former Wednesday striker with a smart save.

Madine felt he should have had a penalty after tangling with Michael Hector, but both teams lacked quality in the final third as the contest became increasingly scrappy.

Wednesday’s lack of cutting edge prompted manager Steve Bruce to bring on George Boyd for Fernando Forestieri at half-time and it almost worked immediately as Steven Fletcher sent an overhead kick over the bar from the former Hull forward’s 46th-minute cross.

The hosts began to enjoy a sustained spell of pressure and Rolando Aarons almost put them ahead after 59 minutes when he beat his man and struck a fierce left-foot effort that Dean Henderson did well to parry away.

Wednesday should have gone ahead in the 65th minute when Aarons’ brilliant cross from the left was met by an unmarked Sam Hutchinson eight yards out, but the midfielder shot straight at Henderson.