Stevenage 0 Carlisle Utd 0: What it boils down to, with 18 games to go, is how effectively Keith Curle can sell the merits of the 12th-best team in League Two to the sort of players who might make it better. What Carlisle have and what they sorely need was as plain as day on this scrappy, muddy afternoon.

What they have? A certain backbone that allows them to keep sides with as strong a home record as Stevenage at bay. What they need? Much more quality in attacking areas to lift a middling season out of the mundane.

Some are concluding it is already too late, since the gap to the play-offs is nine points and an increasingly fanciful mission as a result. A few, it is growing apparent, have also had their fill of United's boss.

Curle gains nothing from thinking of either sentiment, naturally, yet he must hit a couple of bullseyes in what is left of the transfer window. Otherwise, this campaign will surely drift to a conclusion as average as this one at the Lamex Stadium.

On its own it was a battling point at a ground that hasn't seen the home team lose since last October. Marks for that in a division of few guarantees. In the recent pattern, though, it was also United trying and failing to impose themselves on an opponent with enough conviction. They actually crept into the top half of the table as a result of their first 0-0 draw of the league season but the general quality of the spectacle limited the reasons for celebration.

No, it was not helped by a heavy pitch which cut up after rain and a little snow. But nor did it suggest either of these teams was ready to mount a "charge", which Curle believes is still possible.

Again - no harm in thinking big. But how is it to happen? Carlisle had a couple of chances to nail this game but failed to take them. They rarely looked in peril at the other end, but this is the back nine, and par scores will no longer do.

There have probably been worse 0-0 draws than this. But nor does the notepad groan under the weight of great chances or slick moves written down. The surface encouraged the sort of play Curle attempted with the selection of Richie Bennett and Sam Cosgrove as a pairing of tall strikers, and United's direct approach at least enabled them to play more of the game in the opposition's half than might otherwise have been expected.

In certain respects they were compact and competitive. Alas, despite the attempted probings of Jamie Devitt, they were also sterile.

There was a degree of fanfare and selection intrigue before this tame result could be reached. For Stevenage, a guard of honour welcomed Ronnie Henry, who set an appearance record last weekend. For Carlisle, another fine veteran, Clint Hill, returned from his father's bedside, where he had been for most of the week.

Hill showed admirable character and focus in the circumstances and will return to Spain with thousands of good wishes. Here, one would not have known of the difficult personal situation he is dealing with by the committed way he played and defended.

Stevenage at times threatened that defence with dangerous movement from the beginning, but nor could they gain a foothold. Matt Godden made a couple of inroads on the left without joy and a Ben Kennedy cross was then glanced close, while Devitt, at the other end, failed to make the most of a good early crossing position.

On it went. Devitt did his best to feed from the scraps falling from Bennett and Cosgrove's work and if anything United had the edge in general play. James Brown, bombing down the right, drove into some good positions, but the final touch was either lacking or hesitant, while Devitt was narrowly off-target from a free-kick.

There was, at times, some bite to the contest, notably when Kennedy reacted angrily to something Danny Grainger had done after a thundering 50-50 with Luke Joyce. Kennedy then had a volley blocked before Carlisle carved their best chance, Devitt sending Cosgrove behind the defence but the young striker failing to chip keeper Tom King.

Such an opportunity would seldom come again. From there it was bits and pieces, odds and ends. Kennedy, already booked, got lucky when ref Charles Breakspear declined to penalise an arm-led challenge on Grainger with a second yellow, while Stevenage survived a long-range set-piece from Carlisle's captain, which King had to push away from the top corner.

It already had the makings of a one-goal game at most, and while you were tempted to think United might nab it, they had to be careful at the back end too. Jack Bonham, thankfully, was alert to save at Godden's feet after the break, while Gary Liddle intercepted well from a Tom Pett cross.

A few more things flashed into Carlisle's area without a red and white shirt getting near enough, while some counter-attacks from both teams died too easily, a result either of the pitch or the general fading quality of the forward passes.

The away end, for a good 20 minutes at the start of the second half, were seriously short-changed, unless you included the merriment they found in King's kicking difficulties from a greasy goalmouth. United found a bit more purpose after that, and tended to advance the most when Devitt was carrying or glancing the ball down the middle or the sides, but at the end of it all they were blunt.

For example: Cosgrove couldn't get enough on a header when Devitt crossed after the hour, and incoming challenges prevented Joyce from taking clean aim after another Devitt set-up. Those two then narrowly failed to serve Bennett, and when Curle hooked the latter, sub Hallam Hope was denied by King with almost his first touch, after being sent through by Cosgrove.

Curle tried Reggie Lambe next in search of the elusive moment, but the only time it looked possible from there was when Mike Jones rebuilt a crumbling attack on the right and his shot spun off a defender, requiring King to slide across to save, conceding a corner in the process.

A couple more set-pieces like this came and went, the bounce or the break eluding United, while Stevenage failed badly to penetrate Carlisle's defence, where Hill, Liddle and Tom Parkes did enough to bank a clean-sheet bonus.

Those at the rear of United's team can be pleased enough with consecutive clean-sheets in the league and the four points these have gained. If they turn this into seven from nine against Forest Green next weekend then those giving up on this campaign may have to hold the obituaries a touch longer.

It will take more, though, to put away the reservations about Carlisle's general ability to sustain a push, so Curle must now go shopping with the sort of focus that can steer everything that remains in 2017/18 from the middle of the road.

United: Bonham, Liddle, Hill, Parkes, Brown, Grainger, Joyce, Jones, Devitt, Bennett (Hope 66), Cosgrove (Lambe 76). Not used: Bacon, Nabi, Ellis, O'Sullivan, S Miller

Booked: Bennett

Stevenage: T King, Henry, Wilmot, J King, Martin (Vancooten 43), Pett, McKee, Smith, Kennedy (Samuel 74), Godden, Newton (Franks 90). Not used: Fryer, Wilkinson, Wade-Slater, Conlon.

Booked: Kennedy

Ref: Charles Breakspear

Crowd: 2,476 (361 Carlisle fans)