Wayne Quinn's deflected strike five minutes from time gave Sheffield United all three points in a drab game against Stockport at Bramall Lane.

The England Under 21 star notched his first goal of the season as his shot went in off the unfortunate Sean Connelly and past Carlo Nash.

It was one of the few chances worthy of the name in a clash which saw both sides try in vain to find a breakthrough. A tedious encounter was only briefly illuminated by promising touches from Paul Devlin and the lumbering Kevin Francis.

Devlin perhaps should have hit the target with the best opportunity of the first half but he inexplicably put a header past the post in stoppage time.

After half-time, both sides continued to be cagey although Nicholson's long-range effort immediately meant that struggling County came out of the blocks in the second half with at least some attacking ambition.

The highly-rated Marcus Bent attempted to live up to his costly reputation with a bustling performance but the big target man had a quiet day, with only his first-half cross causing the visitors any anxiety.

The result means United can still harbour slim ambitions of claiming a play-off place at the end of the season and the Blades faithful will look to their unbeaten record at home under new boss Neil Warnock as evidence of their upwardly mobile status.

But for County, who have now gone 13 games without a win in the First Division, the early season promise they showed has evaporated to be replaced by a cageyness which could yet see them and their likeable boss Andy Kilner dragged into the scrap at the bottom of the table.

Teams:

Sheff Utd: Tracey, Kozluk, Quinn, Murphy, Sandford (Gysbrechts 46), Devlin, Ford, Woodhouse, Brown, Bent, D'Jaffo (Notman 52).

Subs Not Used: Hamilton, Ribeiro, Duke.

Goals: Quinn 86.

Stockport:Nash, Connelly, Nicholson, Flynn, Dinning, Gannon, Gibb (Woodthorpe 61), Cooper, Fradin, Francis, Lawson (Wilbraham 69).

Subs Not Used: Gray, Byrne, Bergersen.

Att: 14,907

Ref: R Olivier (Sutton Coldfield).