Sheffield United 0 Sheffield Wednesday 0: Blades and 10-man Owls draw blank in Steel City derby

Luhukay replaced Carlos Carvalhal as Owls boss last week and his introduction to English football came in the shape of a Steel City derby.

The Dutchman has vowed to instil discipline and organisation into Wednesday and it is already showing through as they overcame the second-half dismissal of captain Glenn Loovens to hold on for a point.

It denied the Blades a first derby double over their neighbours since 2005-2006 as the hosts were unable to replicate their rousing performance in a 4-2 win at Hillsborough in September.

Clayton Donaldson came closest to scoring for hosts, before Loovens took an early bath, as Joe Wildsmith superbly tipped over his header and their tricky run, which has now seen them win one of their last 10 Sky Bet Championship games, continues.

There is no love lost between rival fans, with reports of isolated incidents of disorder outside Bramall Lane before kick-off.

Once the action got under way on the pitch it was an evenly contested affair, with neither side able to create any glaring opportunities in the first half.

John Lundstram shot on to the roof of the net from distance early on but for all their possession the Blades could not muster anything more clear-cut, partly down to the defensive solidity of Wednesday.

It was the visitors that began to threaten more with Lucas Joao having two efforts drift off target while Ross Wallace skewed his shot wide after a fluid counter attack.

The opening six minutes of the second half offered more entertainment than the previous 45 as both sides went close.

United finally forced Wildsmith into his first save of the evening and the Owls goalkeeper was up to the task as he superbly tipped over Donaldson’s header and then Daniel Pudil flashed an effort wide at the other end.

Wednesday were beginning to fancy it as Wallace then tested Simon Moore with a low effort.

But their task became much harder in the 64th minute when skipper Loovens was sent off for his second yellow card - both for fouls on Donaldson.

Wednesday were no longer existing as an attacking force as United piled forward in search of a winner that would have sent a jam-packed Bramall Lane into delirium.

They pressed for a winner but, despite the introduction of new on-loan striker James Wilson, they could not break down Luhukay’s side.

In fact, they were the ones hanging on at the end as Adam Reach’s looping volley brought a flying save out of Moore, who also had to keep out Wallace’s shot.

Sheffield United: Moore, Basham, Stearman, O’Connell, Baldock, Lundstram, Duffy, Fleck, Stevens, Clarke, Donaldson (Wilson 66). Unused substitutes: Leonard, Sharp, Wright, Lee, Evans, Lafferty, Blackman.

Sheffield Wednesday: Wildsmith, Venancio, Loovens, Pudil, Palmer, Wallace (Clare 90), Jones, Reach, Fox, Rhodes (Boyd 70), Joao (Nuhiu 82). Unused substitutes: Butterfield, Matias, Dawson, Thorniley.

Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire).