Blackpool 0 Sheffield United 0: Oliver Norwood goal disallowed as Blades end Tangarines scoring streak

For Sheffield United, the penultimate game of a punishing 12-match sequence inside 40 days – which ends on Saturday afternoon – was also staged at the Lancashire holiday resort and had the makings of being rigorous against a sixth successive side who find themselves in the play-off vicinity.

An appointment against a form side in Blackpool arrived after tests against Coventry, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest, Millwall and Blackburn.

A tough run at the best of times with this seriously exacerbated by the fact that Paul Heckingbottom had more senior players unavailable than were fit at Bloomfield Road, with Oli McBurnie being the latest absentee.

In the event, a 0-0 draw was hardly disastrous, certainly against a side who had won their previous three matches and were starting to eye the upper echelons of the table with relish.

United did stop Blackpool, who came into the game with the longest scoring sequence in the country – they had scored in their previous 14 games – from extending that sequence. Yet they couldn’t magic a winner on the sort of night when all aspiring sides crave a scruffy 1-0 when they aren’t at their best.

Unfortunately, for United’s sake, unavailability meant that Heckingbottom had little at his disposal to be able to conjure a winner on a bench notable for the inclusion of a number of rookies.

One of whom in Danish striker Will Osula came on for his debut in stoppage time.

United briefly thought they had their moment 15 minutes from time, with Oliver Norwood’s drive taking a huge deflection before creeping into the net, only for a linesman’s flag to rule out the ‘goal’ for offside.

A point it was as Neil Crichley’s 100th game in charge of Blackpool ended in a stalemate. Both sides did not merit more than a point in truth, with the Blades at least getting back to their solid selves after a defensive aberration at Coventry.

For the second successive game, United had to contend with a testing wind, this time whipping off the Irish Sea. But fortunately they looked more tuned in than they did at Coventry.

It was they who produced the more cohesive pockets of passing football in a stop-start first half in which there were a surfeit of long balls, bouts of head tennis and battles for second balls, from throw-ins in particular.

The recalled Iliman Ndiaye, Morgan Gibbs-White and Billy Sharp looked the ones capable of stepping out from the crowd and rising above the ordinary, alongside former Hull loanee Joel Bowler in the home ranks.

Bowler engineered the best opportunity with his fine strike from distance hitting the bar late on in the half, yet the more cultured stuff on view came from the visitors.

Piercing play from Ndiaye ended in Sharp firing a crisp drive just wide after twisting and turning past Pool captain Marvin Ekpieta. Another quality move ended in an opportunity for the overlapping Rhys Norrington-Davies, only for the covering Callum Connolly to save the day.

Aside from Bowler’s offering, the Seasiders’ other efforts of note came via the aerial presence of ex-Blades and Sheffield Wednesday striker Gary Madine.

He nodded one effort off target and perhaps should have done better after being left unmarked from Kenny Dougall’s free-kick on the left, with his downward header fortunately straight at Wes Foderingham.

For United, the onus was on retaining their composure and fashioning out that telling chance, with their defence thankfully also more in charge than they were at the CBS Arena four days earlier.

More questions were asked on the resumption as Blackpool’s urgency levels rose and they applied pressure, but in a game of few major opportunities, it was CJ Hamilton’s misfortune that he spurned a good one when he blazed over with the relief belonging to United.

Another close shave saw Bowler’s cross-shot flash across goal as the Seasiders bossed territory with United on the back foot.

In a bid to restore some order, Heckingbottom did the only sensible thing he could in throwing on Conor Hourihane to stiffen up central midfield.

It was his midfield partner Norwood, who threatened to break the deadlock following his wickedly-deflected strike from distance, only for the linesman’s flag to interrupt any celebrations.

The desire of both sides to grab a winner was there, but not the poise or fortune. A draw was fair.

Blackpool: Grimshaw; Connolly (Kirk 81), Ekpiteta, Thorniley; Sterling, Husband, Stewart, Dougall, Bowler; Hamilton (Lavery 81), Madine (Yates 86). Unused substitutes: Moore, James, Robson, Dale.

Sheffield United: Foderingham; Gordon, Egan, Robinson; Osborn, Berge, Norwood, Ndiaye (Hourihane 70), Norrington-Davies; Gibbs-White (Osula 90), Sharp. Unused substitutes: A Davies, Lopata, Jebbison, Arblaster, Gomis.

Referee: G Eltringham (Tyne and Wear).