We rode our luck at times

“We should have won, anyone watching would have wondered how we didn’t,” said Warnock after the game.

“A draw at Burnley is a good start, you have to give them credit, they put their heads in where it hurt and I don’t think anything went for us in the first half.

“We pushed the game in the second, we stopped messing about, poured forward and put the crosses in for the front men.”

Finally Warnock picked out Leigh Bromby for special praise, he only came in as an eleventh hour replacement for Simon Francis who twisted an ankle.

Playing out of position Warnock said of Bromby, “He was the man of the match for me. To say he has been out for four months with injury, he was magnificent.

“His throws were a threat and we scored from one of them but we didn’t work on them in training because we didn’t think he was going to play.”

Clarets boss Steve Cotterill was relieved to come through his first game with something to show for it. “We have to take satisfaction with a point there,” he admitted.

“We rode our luck at times and in the second half there was a scramble where we managed to get bodies in the way and we showed some great spirit there although I’m still disappointed with the goal we conceded form their second throw in. It was a silly throw to give away and we got punished for it. We then had a good five minute spell after their goal.”

On the result he added, “Before the game I wouldn’t have settled for a point but after the game we have to really. Sheffield United have a real winning mentality, they are used to winning and that is the sort of mentality we need to get where we can push on and win games.”

Gray spares Blades blushes

Ron Clarke (Sunday Times)

There was not much given away here by two radically restructured sides more than content to limit themselves to a share of the points in a timid start to the new season.

The score was a fair reflection of this opening encounter of the season and the early term report for both Burnley and Sheffield United could easily read “must do better”, but there plenty on offer to show that there could soon be plenty of improvement.

With soaring temperatures and nine debutants in the two starting line-ups, this encounter was never going to have the hallmarks of fluidity and composure, and so it proved in the opening exchanges, which in reality were nothing more than a tame knockabout in the sun.

The hosts, with their five new signings, did have the upper hand early on but they long-range shots from John McGreal and Michael Duff were their only meaningful attempts on goal before getting a fortunate breakthrough in only 16 minutes.

Richard Chaplow did the damage down the left flank by twisting his way past a bemused Leigh Bromby and then sending an inviting cross to the far post. Andy Gray showed exactly why strikers should not be allowed to defend as he sent the ball straight off the line to Micah Hyde for the easiest of tap-ins.

Sheffield United did have the ball in the net moments later, only for Andy Liddell’s close-range shot to be ruled out for offside. They nearly equalised when Jon Harley’s powerful drive was marvellously tipped round the post by new goalkeeper Danny Coyne.

Of course, this match marked the start of Steve Cotterill’s rehabilitation period, taking over a Turf Moor following the demise of Stan Ternent following last year’s disappointing campaign.

Cotterill was hailed was one of England’s promising young coaches before his disastrous spell as Howard Wilkinson’s number two at Sunderland.

He had been quick to address glaring weaknesses in a side that conceded a staggering 166 goals in the past two years. He has already signed former Chelsea and Leicester defender Frank Sinclair, along with McGreal from Ipswich. The pair should at least provide some much needed solidity in the last line.

Alarmingly, the new defensive set-up looked more static than solid within minutes of the restart. First, they allowed Chris Morgan a clean flick-on from Bromby’s long throw and then Gray sneaked in virtually unnoticed to head home the equaliser and make amends for that earlier lapse.

The Burnley backline was now being really tested as Liddell ran straight through and was stopped point-blank by Coyne. There then followed an incredible scramble inside the penalty area, with the ball cleared off the line for a succession of attempts on goal.

In contrast to Cotterill, Sheffield United’s Neil Warnock is a veteran at the annual assault on the Premiership. With a new blend of youth and experience, his side should be there or thereabouts again come next May, even though Warnock himself rates their chances of promotion as only about 25-1.

The game itself faded into obscurity with barely a chance for either side. The best came in the closing stages, with first Morgan blasting the ball well wide of the goal from the edge of the six-yard box and then, with almost the final kick of the game, Ashley Ward raced unmarked to the penalty area to crash the ball against the bar.

Neil Warnock believes Burnley are the ideal club for Steve Cotterill to rebuild his career after his disastrous association with Sunderland, and for a while it seemed that Warnock's Sheffield United might allow the 40-year-old former Cheltenham and Stoke manager to start his new job with a win.

Given how few funds he has at his disposal, Cotterill might disagree. His new team, refreshed only by free transfers, were ultimately relieved to take a point after a second half dominated by the visitors. United cancelled out Micah Hyde's debut goal through Andy Gray but managed to pass up two opportunities to take all three points in the closing minutes, when centre-half Chris Morgan drove wide of an open goal and substitute Ashley Ward hit the bar from two yards out.

Burnley had been in need of a pick-up after last season, when relegation was a worry from Christmas onwards. Ultimately it cost the then manager, Stan Ternent, his job. Cotterill had been out of full-time work himself since Sunderland - where he was Howard Wilkinson's assistant - gave him his cards in February 2003. He had no idea what to expect, he said, from a Burnley side containing five new players, four of whom are defenders, including goalkeeper Danny Coyne.

Burnley's only attacking newcomer is Hyde, and he gave his team the lead after 16 minutes. It was a fortunate goal for Hyde, although the footwork of 19-year-old Richard Chaplow on the left deserved some reward. The teenager dipped a shoulder to go past Leigh Bromby and when he delivered a cross, Gray's attempt to hook it clear rebounded into the net off Hyde.

Only Robbie Blake was deployed in an exclusively forward role for the home side; Ian Moore, the other striker, was on the right of midfield. Michael Tonge and Jon Harley, on the left, looked the brightest source of creativity for Sheffield United. Still, Burnley dealt with their best attempts to find a first-half equaliser, although Coyne denied Harley, stretching to his left to push a firm strike around his left-hand post.

But Warnock's side stepped up their work rate in the second half, forcing Burnley on to the back foot, at which point Blake became an even more isolated figure. United squared things up seven minutes after half-time.

Bromby's long throw from the right was met with power by the head of Morgan. Coyne had it covered but the slightest flick by Gray took it past him.

Now Burnley looked decidedly insecure. Moore's boot, under the crossbar, denied Phil Jagielka a second United goal in a pinball-machine scramble in the Burnley box.

By the end, Burnley were struggling to keep a point, and luck was with them in the dying moments, as centre-half Morgan flashed the ball wide of a gaping goal and Ward, on for a tiring Barry Hayles, managed to hit the woodwork from barely two yards as he attempted to convert a cross from Jonathan Forte.