Richard Cresswell netted his first Blades goal in Saturday's South Yorkshire stalemate with Doncaster Rovers.

The striker, signed in the week, sacrificed his own safety to head in a Glen Little cross to level the scores in the second half after James Hayter had given Doncaster the lead on the stroke of half-time.

Darius Henderson came close to winning it with a header which powered against a Rovers post but the visitors, on the back foot for long periods, held on for a point.

Stewart, Little and Cresswell were all handed their full home league debuts and they were joined in the starting line-up by Davies, whilst Kilgallon and Treacy shook off ankle and knee problems respectively to be amongst the substitutes. Taylor and Cotterill dropped to the bench with Quinn moving to central midfield alongside Montgomery in the absence of the injured Harper. For Doncaster, there was no place for Sharp but former United junior Fairhurst was on the bench.

Bright sunshine welcomed the teams for United's first game in October but the blustery conditions did not seem to be affecting either side. Shiels found himself in the clear in the first 30 seconds but shot at Bunn and then Evans fired wide after a run from Stewart.

United won four corners in the opening 20 minutes, Davies got his head to three but the home team were unable to breach Sullivan's goal. There was also an enterprising run by Quinn, whilst Morgan had a volley blocked and Montgomery's shot was deflected wide.

Most of the first half hour belonged to the Blades and following a quick Quinn free-kick, Stewart's cross flashed off Hird's shin and needed Sullivan to be well-placed, whilst in a rare Doncaster attack, Little was back to snuff out Shiels.

Shackell was required to stop Cresswell after good work by Henderson before Doncaster stunned S2 as the referee's watch ticked around to 45 minutes. From a central position, Shiels threaded the ball through the Blades defence and HAYTER's subsequent shot benefitted from a deflection off Walker to direct it beyond Bunn's grasp.

Four minutes of injury-time was added before the break and there was time for another United chance. Henderson's cross from the left was beautifully controlled by Cresswell but his shot, on the move, was pushed around the post by Sullivan.

United began the second period with France in central midfield, on for Montgomery, and Doncaster's intentions soon became evident when Roberts was cautioned on 53 minutes, for timewasting.

As expected, the home side did most of the attacking in the early stages of the second half - going towards the Kop. Evans shot across goal and wide following a neat move which involved five players and then Little fired over and Evans saw an effort blocked by a falling O'Connor.

However, a piece of quality finally brought United level on 65 minutes. From a Walker throw, Little turned away from Chambers and dinked a perfect cross over Sullivan's outstretched arm for CRESSWELL to throw himself at the ball at the back post. The loan frontman needed treatment after colliding with a post and could not acknowledge his deserved credit from the crowd.

The majority inside Bramall Lane thought the Blades were in front with the next attack, on 73 minutes. Little's free-kick saw Henderson leave his marker and the goalkeeper rooted but the powerful header came back off a post.

Blackwell took off Evans for Treacy, with Cresswell moving to a central role, and then Cotterill was introduced for the tiring Little.

United continued to be on the offensive late on but for the visitors, a Woods free-kick hit the wall and Chambers had a shot blocked by Walker.

Four minutes of added time lifted the Lane crowd and in the 92nd minute a long Davies pass was headed down by Cresswell but Walker's shot was tipped over by Sullivan. United won a total of three corners in the injury-time period and were on the attack at the final whistle but the visitors from across the M1 held on for a share of the points.

Blades: Bunn, Montgomery (France 45), Morgan, Henderson, Evans (Treacy 76), Cresswell, Stewart, Davies, Little (Cotterill 82), Quinn, Walker.
Unused: Kilgallon, Reid, Bennett, Taylor.

Doncaster: Sullivan, O'Connor, Chambers, Spicer (Dumbuya 90), Hayter, Wilson (Roberts 38, Heffernan 75), Woods, Shackell, Hird, Shiels, Webster.
Unused: Guy, Smith, Elliott, Fairhurst.