Sheffield Wednesday and MK Dons played out a low-key goalless draw in the third round of the FA Cup at Hillsborough and must cross swords again in Buckinghamshire on Tuesday week.
Action of note was scarce as the balance of play was relatively even over the course of the 90 minutes.
MK Dons had the edge in the first half, which switched to the Owls in the second, but neither side did enough to warrant a straight passage into round four.
Dave Jones made three changes from Wednesday’s last league contest, with starts for goalkeeper Stephen Bywater, skipper Martin Taylor and striker Chris Maguire.
The Wednesday manager indicated before the game that he would not be going down the road of wholesale changes and was true to his word as he broached his first FA Cup campaign in S6.
And his men made a promising start as Mamady Sidibe sent a difficult header narrowly over the bar whilst off balance after Miguel Llera floated a deep ball into the box five minutes in.
But the visitors soon grew into the game and played neat and tidy football, albeit without showing any real signs of penetrating the Wednesday backline.
The contest maintained a similar theme as the first half unfolded, with the Dons enjoying most of the possession and the hosts reliant on the swift counter.
But neither goalkeeper was seriously troubled throughout, which all but summed up an incident-free opening 45.
Both teams needed to up the ante in the second period if a replay was to be avoided and the Owls complied early on as Sidibe found space on the edge of the area but just fell short of sending Michail Antonio in on goal.
Wednesday introduced Gary Madine and Jermaine Johnson from the bench and certainly saw more of the ball after the resumption.
But like MK Dons in the first half, the Owls struggled to gain a true sight on goal and all the pointers were towards a replay at Stadium MK.
The visitors had a rare shot on 70 minutes when new signing Ryan Harley hit hard and low past the post with the aid of a deflection, while Rhys McCabe delivered a dangerous free kick at the other end that somehow evaded a trio of onrushing attackers.
With the clock ticking down, MK had a late flurry, with Shaun Williams unleashing a blistering drive from distance that Bywater tipped wide before the same player hit the post with a clever sidefooted effort from ten yards.
But in truth, a winner would from one side would have proved harsh on the other as the curtain came down on a largely forgettable cup encounter.
Owls: Bywater, Buxton, Llera, Taylor, Mattock, Antonio, Prutton, McCabe (Semedo 87), Lee, Sidibe (Madine 55), Maguire (J Johnson 69)
Unused substitutes: Davies, R Johnson, Corry, O’Grady
MK Dons: Martin, Lewington, Kouo-Doumbe, Williams, Potter, Chicksen, Smith (MacKenzie 71), Lowe (Rasulo 90), Harley, Kay, Ismail (Alli 68)
Unused substitutes: McLoughlin, Galloway