Tyrese Campbell scored twice as Sheffield United outclassed Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 for their third straight Steel City derby win.

The visitors took an early lead when Jairo Riedewald won the ball back high up the pitch and Callum O'Hare slipped Campbell in to finish clinically.

Administration-hit Wednesday struggled to threaten the Blades' backline and it was 2-0 shortly after the break when Sydie Peck's interception on the halfway line released Campbell down the inside left channel and he made no mistake with a low effort.

The hosts battled gamely on but never threatened to get back into the match and substitute Tom Cannon wrapped up the three points with a 20-yard strike that took a slight deflection on its way into the bottom corner.

The Blades remain in the Championship relegation zone after just a fourth win of the season but they are now only one point off safety.

Wednesday, deducted 12 points for entering administration last month, remain marooned at the bottom of the table on -4 points and their main battle between now and May is to secure competent ownership.

The home side made a bright start in the opening minutes, with a Barry Bannan ball nearly playing Svante Ingelsson in on goal.

But that was about as good as it got for Wednesday, who have gone 13 years without a win in this fixture.

United made the most of a gift to take the lead in the 11th minute when Riedewald pinched the ball with the home side trying to play out of defence and Campbell finished with aplomb from O'Hare's pass.

It maybe should have been 2-0 when Danny Ings latched on to another defensive error only to see his shot smothered by Ethan Horvath.

Ings did have the ball in the net before the break but his close-range finish was ruled out for offside.

The reprieve was short-lived for the home side.

Peck intercepted a ball by debutant Liam Cooper, on as a half-time replacement for the injured Dominic Iorfa, and Campbell made it three goals in three derby games with ease.

Cannon was denied one-on-one by Horvath and fellow substitute Patrick Bamford nearly flicked in from close range before Cannon grabbed his first goal of the season as the home fans headed for the exits.

The Owls, who have won just one of their 16 league games this season, did not manage a single shot on target.

Sheffield Wednesday went into administration four weeks ago, bringing an end to Dejphon Chansiri's ownership of the club.

Fans, who had been boycotting matches, have returned in their numbers since to help the Owls' financial situation.

The administrators said earlier in the week that 12 parties had shown proof of funds to take on the club.

Eighteen points adrift of safety and with the potential for more points to be deducted, their relegation to League One is already all-but confirmed.

The home fans stuck with the team for much of today's game despite having little to shout about. They will be needed for the hard winter months and matches to come.

They travel to Millwall on Wednesday while United host Portsmouth the same evening.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen told BBC Radio Sheffield:

"It was not the performance we hoped to give all the fantastic fans in Hillsborough today – we lost to a better team.

"We struggled a bit with belief to move the ball quickly enough, and I think from the defensive perspective we were not as dominant as we often are with our pressing.

"We had the ball I think 64% in the second half, but we had it from our own goal to the last 20 metres of the opponents' half and we struggled to find the last pass.

"How do we break the defensive line of the opponent? It's a theme of the season – the purpose of having the ball is to create chances, but I promise we'll work a lot on this to be better."

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield:

"It's been a tough period for both clubs, for different reasons, and we always knew it was going to be a tough afternoon. We were going to have to overcome an honest group of players, which we eventually did.

"I went up to Barry Bannan and Liam Palmer at the end of the game. I think the way they've handled the situation and conducted themselves is absolute credit to them, not just as professionals but humans really, in terms of what they've had to deal with and galvanise their group.

"I thought we looked particularly threatening in terms of when we created and the possession we had. We defended well, we had a desire to keep another clean sheet, and we got after them on the press.

"We were good out of possession and forced them to go long – any little periods of sustained pressure they had, we saw them out."