Goalkeeper Darren Ward was the hero for Nottingham Forest in a dour draw at Bramall Lane.

Forest came looking for a point and despite not troubling the United goal once throughout the game, they deserved to leave with a hard-earned point.

United manager Neil Warnock will not be happy with the way his side performed as they lacked quality and creativity throughout.

Only United's rising star Michael Tonge showed any invention at all in a game of only two real chances.

Tonge was at the heart of everything good produced by United and he was denied an excellent save by Ward, who cleared his volley over the bar after a well-worked move involving Peter Ndlovu and Carl Asaba.

Apart from that, both sides showed little and the fans could not have been happy with a boring game.

Forest started brightly with the lively Jermaine Jenas causing early problems for the United defence.

With just five minutes gone he burst clear down the right and sent a dangerous cross into the box - but having stolen in front his marker, Jack Lester could only fire his shot straight at defender Gus Uhlenbeek.

That early scare seemed to kick-start the hosts into life and gradually they settled with Michael Brown beginning to marshal the home midfield.

The former Manchester City man was the match-winner a fortnight ago when the Blades knocked Forest out of the FA Cup with a 1-0 victory at Bramall Lane and he looked lively again.

After 11 minutes he carved out United's first serious effort on goal when he burst purposefully from midfield - but his finish was wayward as he drilled a left-footed shot wide from 25 yards.

The second half showed promise when Brown tested Ward within a minute of the restart.

However, this was a false dawn as both sides cancelled each other out.

The only other chance fell to Ndlovu but he was denied by an excellent save from Ward.

Forest manager Paul Hart will be pleased with the point and his side's defensive display but will be worried about the lack of creativity.

United manager Warnock will be hoping for a much improved performance when it comes to the derby against Sheffield Wednesday.

Teams:

Sheff Utd (0) 0 Nottm Forest (0) 0

Sheff Utd: de Vogt, Uhlenbeek, Ullathorne, Page, Curle, Brown, Tonge (Santos 86), Ford, Ndlovu, Asaba, D'Jaffo (Montgomery 79).

Subs Not Used: Nicholson, Sandford, Tyrone Thompson.

Booked: Uhlenbeek.

Nottm Forest: Ward, Thompson, Scimeca, Vaughan, Hjelde, Williams, Bopp (Jones 87), Summerbee, Jenas, Lester, Johnson (Harewood 73).

Subs Not Used: Foy, Reid, Roche.

Booked: Vaughan.

Att: 18,352

Ref: C Foy (St. Helens).