Craig Sibbald rescued a draw for Dundee United in a scrappy contest at Kilmarnock as both sides continue to search for a Scottish Premiership win.

Kilmarnock's point is their first in seven matches while United are now winless in four.

United had the chance to take an early lead from the penalty spot when Ethan Schilte Brown clattered into Krisztian Keresztes.

Max Watters sent the spot-kick low but Kilmarnock goalkeeper Tobi Oluwayemi tipped the ball on to the post before his defenders rushed back to clear.

The hosts won a penalty of their own shortly after the half hour when Keresztes fouled Marley Watkins.

Dave Richards, starting in place of under-fire goalkeeper Yevhen Kucherenko, saved Bruce Anderson's spot-kick but the striker got to the loose ball first and smashed it into the bottom corner.

Kilmarnock went close to a second as Luca Stephenson had to scoop Scott Tiffoney's header off the line after Richards flapped at a loose ball. Tiffoney's effort appeared to have crossed the line but VAR guidance indicated the United goalkeeper had been fouled.

Sibbald hauled United level with just under half an hour to play. United sprung a counter-attack, Stephenson cut the ball back inside the box and Sibbald, on the stretch, slotted into the bottom corner.

Ivan Dolcek tried to catch out Oluwayemi with a spinning backheel as the clock ticked down but the Kilmarnock goalkeeper was able to gather comfortably.

And the final chance fell to Kilmarnock in the dying seconds as Dominic Thompson's 25-yard free-kick whistled narrowly wide.

It was hardly a game for the football purist at Rugby Park but it was certainly a game of two halves.

Killie looked the better side for most of the first 45 and made their dominance count when Anderson reacted quickly from his saved penalty to fire in the rebound.

They had five shots in the first half, two on target, and 14 touches in the opposition box.

A positive for Kilmarnock is they are yet to lose a Premiership game this season when scoring first - but it is victories they need.

United struggled through the first half and failed to capitalise on their golden chance to take the lead when Watters' penalty was saved. Jim Goodwin's side had just six touches in the Kilmarnock box despite 37 final-third entries.

But the second period was a totally different story and United bossed the game - registering six shots, two on target - to earn the reward of Sibbald's equaliser.

Given the way the game played out, and how closely matched the sides were over the 90 minutes, a draw was the right result.

Kilmarnock travel to league leaders Hearts on Wednesday while Dundee United are at home to Rangers on (both 19:45 GMT).

Kilmarnock manager Stuart Kettlewell: "I think in the end we're frustrated it's just a point.

"We didn't feel we grew in confidence in the second half. There were so many situations where we had opportunities to play connecting passes to our strikers and the ball was turned over.

"I think sometimes when you're on a poor run that wee bit of decision-making is a factor."

Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin: "The game panned out pretty much how we had prepared for it.

"Kilmarnock had been on a poor run, we knew they were going to be scrapping and fighting for every ball. There wasn't a great deal between the teams in the first half.

"We were a lot better in the second half and had a lot more control, but unfortunately we were lacking in that little bit of quality and probably didn't test the Kilmarnock goalkeeper enough in terms of shots on target."