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The Pre-Match Warm Up by Ron Norris Rangers' depleted squad is back on the road this weekend, travelling to face a Sheffield United side who must be bristling with confidence. We are about to answer the question "how will Rangers cope without Furlong" but will we like the answer come 4:45 on Saturday? |
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Sheffield United v Queens
Park Rangers |
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| TEAM NEWS |
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SHEFF UTD: Andy Liddell is available for selection again after a calf injury kept him out of the Reading game, he was left on the bench for the midweek win at Leeds. Danny Webber came into the side for Tuesday nights game and scored two minutes into his full debut so Neil Warnock will likely continue with him upfront at the expense of Steve Kabba. QPR: The big news is Rangers go into Saturdays game without Paul Furlong who has failed to recover from the hamstring strain that forced him off on Tuesday night. We will have Martin Rowlands back in the line up though, he's got over his knee injury but Richard Edghill and Dean Sturridge are still doubts. There's still no Gareth Ainsworth or Tony Thorpe so youngsters Pat Kanyuka, Ryan Johnson, Stefan Bailey and Shabazz Baidoo will fill out the gaps in the squad. |
| LEAGUE STANDINGS | |||||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 8th | Sheff United | 40 | 17 | 11 | 12 | +4 | 62 |
| 9th | QPR | 40 | 16 | 9 | 15 | -1 | 57 |
| LAST TIME OUT | |||
| Sheff Utd Last Match | QPR Last Match | ||
| Against | Leeds | Against | Gillingham |
| Result | Won | Result | Drew |
| Score | 4-0 | Score | 1-1 |
| Venue | Away | Venue | Home |
| HEAD TO HEAD | |||
| Played | QPR | Sheff Utd | Draws |
| 37 | 13 | 10 | 14 |
| LAST MEETING |
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Queens Park Rangers 0 - 1 Sheffield
United
from
Simon's match report At the final whistle it was hard not to applaud the efforts of the players. I think we would have had enough to beat most sides but Colin has a resolute bunch at Sheffield United and they clung on for the win. It was a display reminiscent of their win at Preston earlier in the season, when again; they went a goal up early on and defended like Trojans. |
| THE REF RECORD | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | Games | Yellows | Reds | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Lee Probert | 28 | 79 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| THE MANAGER | |
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After beginning his managerial career with Burton Albion, "Colin" made the football world sit up and take notice of his talents by guiding Scarborough into the football league in his first season in charge. Notts County came calling and he won two back to back promotions with the Magpies, taking them into the top flight in 1991. Unfortunately County came straight back down, missing out being founder members of the Premier League in the progress. In 1993 Neil moved onto Huddersfield, winning another promotion (his fourth in nine seasons) in 1995. After Huddersfield he moved onto Plymouth, where a play off final and yet another promotion was won, before less successful (and shorter) spells with Oldham and Bury followed before his boyhood heroes, Sheffield United offered him the big chair. Warnock has now been at Bramall Lane for nearly five years and despite some impressive cup runs and a play off final, his dream of returning the Blades to the big time still eludes him. |
| ONE TO WATCH | |
| Danny Webber made a slightly surprising move to Sheffield United on transfer deadline day from Watford. Initially joining on loan, the former Manchester United forward is expected to sign a permanent deal in the summer. He's only made two appearances for the Blades so far but he scored his first goal in last weekends destruction of Leeds. A real live wire upfront, he has already scored two against Rangers this season and the defence will have to be on top form if they are to stop that figure rising. |
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| QPR CONNECTIONS | ||
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Tony Curries' spells with QPR and Sheffield Untied were split side of a stint at Leeds, today he works for the football in the community department at Bramall Lane. |
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| Steve Yates | Tony Currie | |
| RON AND SIMON'S PREDICT-OFF |
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RON:
United look good coming off the 4-0 win over Leeds but before that their
form has been patchy. They'd won only twice in the seven preceding games but
if Sheffield United can beat Leeds 4-0 and they beat us 6-1 then, oh you do
the maths but it doesn't look good! With no Paul Furlong I really can't see
where the threat will come from, Santos will huff and puff if played upfront
but against a strong resilient side like The Blades we'll need that little
bit extra. No Furlong equals no points. 2 - 0 to United. SIMON: Nobody ever likes going to Sheffield Untied and not just because the seats are hard and the stewards are somewhat over zealous but when you add in the fact that Olly is taking four players that have yet to see the sharp side of a mach three, this could be a long afternoon. The Blades are coming off the back of a 4-0 mauling of Leeds and unless we are on our mettle we could be in for more of the same. I can’t see this being a fun afternoon, 3-1 to Sheffield United. |
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| THE OPPOSITE VIEW | |
| Official Site | Unofficial Site |
| SUFC.co.uk | TheBladesOnline.com |
