Sheffield Wednesday's Luhukay encouraged while Blades boss Wilder rues missed opportunity

The Dutchman’s first experience of management in England proved a rewarding one with his side – reduced to 10 men for the final 25 minutes following captain Glenn Loovens’s dismissal – showing impressive resolve to take a deserved point at arch-rivals Sheffield United.

An injury-hit Owls side, who started the game with just a six-point buffer above the Championship relegation zone, dug deep and Luhukay was full of praise for his side’s efforts.

He said: “I enjoyed that and am very happy that I can be here.

“The game was very hard for us, but I must give my team a compliment and respect for the fight. We played for 25 minutes with one player down and it was not so easy, but we defended together.

“At the end, we had two situations from distance and the goalkeeper made two fantastic saves. But we can live with this draw, although we could have won.

“It can be better, but we must make it step by step and this was the first step.

“We have so many injuries and players who cannot play, not only in this game, but also in the next weeks. But we tried to do the best with these players and they gave me hope for the next games.”

Blades boss Chris Wilder felt the hosts lacked the required quality to earn all three points.

“It shows how far we have come to be frustrated to take four points from the two games from the team across the city,” he said.

“It was a bit disappointing. I thought we were okay to doing well. But okay to doing well doesn’t win you games. We lacked a bit of quality. A draw was a fair result and I congratulated the opposition. They ran around and competed. We run around and compete every week.

“I would imagine Carlos (Carvalhal) will be disappointed watching that in South Wales.”

Match report & 
comment: Page 4.