WATFORD'S Aidy Boothroyd declared himself happy with perhaps the most hard earned point of the season, as his new look side went within a whisker of taking their tenth away win of the season at Bramall Lane this evening (Tuesday).

After Nathan Ellington swept the visiting team into the lead, there only looked to be one outcome, however a stern talking to at half-time turned Sheffield United into an altogether different prospect in the second half.

David Carney's close range equaliser snatched a share of the points, but Boothroyd wasn't downcast at seeing his side secure their 30^th point of the season on the road.

"The team that was put out today was very, very energetic and worked exceptionally hard," said the Yorkshireman on his return to his home county.

"It was chalk and cheese from Saturday's performance and their work ethic was very good.

"It was a small team and the only threat they [Sheffield United] had was set plays and I was worried about it from the start. Unfortunately, they scored off a long throw, but I have to say it was a good point, a hard fought point and I thought some of the performances were great.

"Nathan Ellington scored again, Steve Kabba did very, very well. He looked a different player, ran his heart out, put them under pressure and could have had a couple of goals himself. I also thought Aidy Mariappa was superb coming in to the team.

"We've got two 'number two' centre halves if you like - by that I mean guys that like to sweep up, we didn't have a dominant one in there.

"Nathan will score from anywhere and he's shown a little frustration at the end when he's gone for the 'Ronnie Radford' from daft range. I've talked before about his talent and he's capable of getting goals from anywhere.

"It worked well tonight with Steve Kabba stretching them and Nathan picking up the little space in between the defensive four and the midfield four, where he got on the ball and created a bit of havoc."

United, and manager Bryan Robson came under huge pressure during the match, and Boothroyd had a tinge of empathy for his opposite number.

"They reminded me of us at home a little, and there's an expectation for Sheffield to do well.

"That said, it was a well gained point for us in the end and we did ride our luck, but so did Sheffield. All-in-all a draw's a fair result and it's one of those that actually gets us closer to the top."

With just two days to go in the January transfer window, Boothroyd also alluded to the hope that he may yet strengthen his squad further, not least as Dan Shittu will remain at the African Cup of Nations following Nigeria's 2-0 win earlier today.

"We'll have to wait for Danny to come back, which is good for him of course. I thought that Aidy in particular was a game guy tonight and his spring is great, he doesn't mind getting hurt, which you need.

"Damien Francis unfortunately has had his knee swell up and after his long term lay-off that's a concern for me, and Darius Henderson has had a niggle for a long time. He's a big player for us.

"I think we still need a little depth and I do hope that something might happen before Thursday. It's going to be a long haul and I'd rather have too many than too little."