BBC Radio 5 Live final whistle match report

Sheffield Wednesday showed how much they miss Paul Di Canio's absence as they again drew another blank without their inspirational Italian.

The banned striker remains top scorer with three goals after a quarter of the season, and does not return to action until halfway through the football year on Boxing Day.

With the 30-year-old crowd favourite missing, Wednesday have gone three games without finding the net, and it is possible that he could still be top scorer come Christmas.

Everton are also struggling to score, with their six goals so far all coming away from home.

But they were unable to add to that record at Hillsborough and they have now been unable to put the ball over the line in three of their last four matches.

The goal drought will be a worry for both sides, who will soon find themselves in the bottom three if their present plight continues.

Ritchie Humphreys is at least trying admirably to fill Di Canio's boots and he came close twice with 25-yard drives that went agonisingly wide.

Wednesday's other Italian Benito Carbone was also missing due to the recurrence of an ankle injury, and Humphreys is not helped by the lack of form of partner Andy Booth.

Stunning saves

Everton enjoyed the better of the chances as keeper Kevin Pressman pulled off stunning saves to deny Duncan Ferguson in the seventh minute and Ivory Coast international Ibrahim Bakayoko early in the second half.

Bakayoko and Olivier Dacourt also went close with fierce drives during a minor purple patch in the opening 10 minutes of the game.

The golden chance of the game, though, came in the dying moments of injury time as Alex Cleland cleared a point-blank Booth header off the line, while Humphreys' tame follow-up from eight yards was straight at Thomas Myhre.

This was the Everton keeper's first worthwhile stop of the game and it was no surprise when the rain-drenched crowd from both ends let out a chorus of boos and catcalls at the end.

This was a fitting finale to a goalless bore draw between two teams who do not know how to find the net.

Referee Jeff Winter did produce six yellow cards, four for Everton in the space of 24 second-half minutes as David Unsworth, John Collins, Marco Materazzi and sub Danny Cadamarteri all went in the book.

Dacourt and Wednesday's Danny Sonner were booked earlier in the match.

But a rainbow above the Sheffield skies midway through the first half provided more colour or spectacle than what was on offer at ground level.

Sheff Wed

Pressman, Atherton, Jonk, Walker, Booth, Humphreys, Briscoe, Hinchcliffe, Thome, Alexandersson, Sonner. Subs: Newsome, Whittingham, Clarke, Sanetti, Magilton.

Everton

Myhre, Cleland, Ball, Dacourt, Watson, Unsworth, Collins, Ferguson, Hutchison, Materazzi, Bakayoko. Subs: Gerrard, Grant, Ward, Cadamarteri, Milligan.