But in truth a home win would have papered over the cracks of a poor Sheffield United performance.

Wes Foderingham - another penalty save from the goalkeeper 7

Ben Davies - made a couple of good blocks 6

John Egan - some good moments defensively but also a terrible concession of possession which could have been costly 6

Jack Robinson - part of a very uncertain looking first-half defence 6

Femi Seriki- not a great full debut if truth be told, although he was by no means alone in having a poor night. One to learn from 5

John Fleck- one poor header was nearly costly and typical of a sloppy display 5

Oliver Norwood - sloppy in possession but he was just trying to fit in 5

Rhys Norrington-Davies - booked on a difficult night for the left wing-back 6

Sander Berge - one lovely pass through the channel was a reminder of what he can do, but we did not see anywhere near enough of it 6

Morgan Gibbs-White - perhaps the one outfield player who can be genuinely happy with his performance, which included making the goal 8

Billy Sharp - did not have a brilliant game overall but did what he is paid for, scoring the Blades' goal 7

Substitutes:

Ben Osborn (for Seriki, 68) - did a good job coming on at right wing-back - another new position for him 6

Daniel Jebbison (for Norwood, 68) - had a couple of opportunities to kill the game off but fluffed them 4

Oli McBurnie (for Sharp, 84) - N/A

Not used: A Davies, Hourihane, Ndiaye, Gordon.

Sheffield United 1 Nottingham Forest 1 - player ratings