Video: Jos Luhukay happy with Sheffield Wednesday's step in the right direction

The Owls showed a steely determination which they had lacked for much of this campaign, producing a teak-tough defensive performance which kept United's chances to score to a minimum.

While Wednesday, who went down to ten men when skipper Glenn Loovens was sent off in the second half after picking up two yellow cards, will get a lot of credit for their backline's display, they also came closest to scoring.

Daniel Pudil drove just wide soon after the break and then in the dying minutes Adam Reach's effort looked destined for the top corner only to be clawed away brilliantly by Blades keeper Simon Moore.

United best opportunity came when Clayton Donaldson saw a looping header tipped over the bar by Joe Wildsmith.

Luhukay hailed his side and says the draw is a step in the right direction.

"I enjoyed it, I am very happy to be here," he said. "The game was very hard for us but I must give my team a compliment and I have respect for the fight they gave me for 90 minutes.

"The last 25 minutes was not so easy but we did the defending as a team and at the end we had two good chances. I think this draw we can live with, but we could have also won it.

"The atmosphere, the passion... this is football, you live for football, you enjoy football, I liked it very much. What they did today gave me hope for the next games. You feel it from the first minute until the end. I am happy with that.

"The team were good after the red card, they did a very good job together. At the end we had two good situations and the goalkeeper had fantastic reflexes.

"It was the first match for me as manager of Wednesday and I am happy we can get a draw, it's the first step to get to a better situation for the team."