The Toffees ace, on loan at Bramall Lane, didn’t have the best game in Monday night’s Championship Steel City derby.
Sheffield United suffered a blow in their Championship automatic promotion hopes as they could only draw 0-0 with bitter rivals Sheffield Wednesday on Monday night.
A third consecutive stalemate between the Steel City rivals left the Blades third, two points behind second-placed Leeds United and four behind leaders Norwich City.
A tense first half yielded just one effort on target between the two sides, Blades striker Gary Madine forcing a near-post save by Owls goalkeeper Keiren Westwood.
Steve Bruce’s charges then mustered several good chances on their home patch as Rolando Aarons and Sam Hutchinson tested United goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
At the other end, the Blades won several set pieces but despite boasting better stats by the end, could not break the deadlock as the game at Hillsborough finished all square.
Everton loanee Kieran Dowell has been impressive for United since his switch to Bramall Lane at the start of January but he didn’t have the best day at the office against Wednesday.
The Star rated him a 6 out of 10 and said about him: “Struggled to really get hold of the game in the first half but was better in the second, picking up more space to run with the ball and try and create.”
Whoscored, meanwhile, gave him a 6.0 out of 10, the joint worst rating in the Blades team alongside Billy Sharp, and he made way for Martin Cranie on 62 minutes as the visitors changed their shape.
It’s unlikely that Dowell’s lukewarm display will concern Chris Wilder or Everton too much though, given how well he’s done for United overall.
However, with just 29 touches and a passing accuracy of 52.6 percent against the Owls, the player himself is sure to want to put things right by Saturday’s game with Rotherham United.
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