Spoils shared at Tannadice

Dundee United and St Mirren played out a goalless draw in a low-key SPL encounter at Tannadice on Saturday.

It was the visitors' fourth draw in five matches, although neither side showed the cutting edge required to merit all three points. Substitute Nigel Hasselbaink could have won it for Danny Lennon's men in the closing stages but he was unable to steer the ball home from a Dougie Imrie cross. United made one enforced change from the team that ran out 5-1 winners against St Johnstone, with Sean Dillon stepping in to replace the injured Garry Kenneth. The Buddies were missing top scorer Steven Thompson after he was handed a two-match ban for being sent off for an elbow in their midweek William Hill Scottish Cup win over Ross County. Imrie started in place of the former United striker, while Steven Thomson preferred to Dutchman Hasselbaink who dropped to the bench. St Mirren, who ended a run of three consecutive draws when they beat Ross County midweek, made a bright start when Paul McGowan showed some neat trickery to evade two defenders but his cross found no takers. The hosts had a penalty claim turned down after nine minutes when Stuart Armstrong fell in the box under pressure from Jeroen Tesselaar, referee Brian Winter waving play on. Buddies left-back David Barron picked up the first booking of the match for a foul on Gary Mackay-Steven a minute later. United carved out their first real opening after 24 minutes when Paul Dixon's cross found Jon Daly who should have done better than head wide, although he was flagged offside in any case. Daly was involved again three minutes later when he was inches away from connecting with Mackay-Steven's back-post corner as United began to enjoy the better of proceedings. And the hosts went even closer on the half-hour mark when Dixon's free-kick was headed across the face of goal by Gavin Gunning but Daly was unable to apply the finishing touch. The Buddies had Marc McAusland to thank after 34 minutes when the defender made a superbly-timed challenge on Johnny Russell just as the United striker looked set to pull the trigger. St Mirren had an early scare after the break when goalkeeper Craig Samson fumbled a John Rankin drive but managed to gather the loose ball at the second attempt. Imrie was booked for dissent after 55 minutes before the hosts made their first change, bringing on Milos Lacny for Armstrong. A Carey cross fell kindly for Teale at the back post but the former Sheffield Wednesday player's touch deserted him at the vital moment. The visitors also shuffled their pack with Hasselbaink and Aaron Mooy introduced for Carey and Teale. United midfielder Rankin fired a deflected shot wide for a fruitless corner as the home side tried to break the deadlock. Hasselbaink could have netted a late winner for the Buddies but the Dutchman, who was sent off when the sides met at Tannadice earlier in the season, could not turn Imrie's cross past Dusan Pernis in the United goal. There was still time for Imrie to test Pernis from distance but the Slovakian keeper was equal to the winger's low drive.