With three dire games against Sheffield United already under their belts this season QPR players and fans alike will be hoping the appointment of former Blades favourite Neil Warnock will liven up this fourth meeting of the season.

Sheffield United (9th) v Queens Park Rangers (15th)
Coca Cola Championship
Saturday March 13, Kick Off 3pm
Bramall Lane, Sheffield

Another week, another Sheffield United match preview on LoftforWords. To be honest if this fixture had been played a couple of weeks ago when we were at Middlesbrough instead of now I'm not sure I would have had the energy to sit here and write about the Blades again, however the dramatic turn around in performances on the pitch and mood in the stands at QPR over the past few weeks actually has me enthusiastically looking forward to going to Rangers again tomorrow for the first time months. How nice it is to think we'll probably lose on Saturday, rather than be absolutely sure we definitely will. The Warnock effect is truly in full swing.

There is an overwhelming feeling of things changing for the better sweeping across the QPR support base at the moment. That's been boosted by the much needed recent wins at Loftus Road and of course every new manager has a honeymoon period and it is likely that the results will regress to something in between what they are now and what they were before Warnock arrived between now and the end of the season - good players don't become bad ones overnight and vice versa. However the changes at QPR stretch far beyond results between now and the end of the season, the whole way the club operates and deals with its supporters seems to be evolving for the better.

We have already played United three times this season as I alluded to at the start, all three games under the "guidance" of the mythical figure of death Paul Hart. Two draws and a defeat, three dire performances, I hope it's fair to say that the Blades fans will be seeing a different, more competitive, more entertaining version of QPR this Saturday. That Warnock has accomplished that in under two weeks speaks volumes for the shambolic way our club was being run and the ability of Paul Hart to manage football teams.

Whether we'll see a different Sheffield United from the boring long ball outfit we've spent 270 minutes nodding off to already this season is more doubtful. Of all the teams in this league it's the Blades and their reprehensible style of football that I like watching the least and for that reason I'm glad this is our last meeting of the season, and the last time I have to sit and write a bloody preview on them.

Five minutes on Sheff Utd
The story so far: United's season is teetering on the brink with 11 games left to play. They're only four points shy of the play offs and are unbeaten in ten league games at Bramall Lane this season, but they're just one of a number of teams in the chasing pack and there are others in better form and with less injuries to contend with that you would have to say are better placed to make the six. To miss out on the play offs altogether in this, the last season of parachute payments following their relegation from the top flight two years ago, would be a disaster for them.

As an outsider looking in, although we've obviously seen more of Sheffield United at QPR than most this season with four fixtures against them, a combination of factors seems to be holding them back from the push for the league title that LFW predicted for them in the pre-season preview back in August. The first is injuries and suspensions - Sheff Utd seem to have been more unlucky than most this season in not only the quantity of both, they lost three players to bad injuries in half an hour at Peterborough on Tuesday, but also the areas they have picked them up in. Darius Henderson is absolutely pivotal to the way the Blades play and has scored 12 times this season but the fact that he is yet to face QPR in any of the three games we've played against them so far tells you something. Too many injuries, too many bans - he's sat out four games suspended already. To lose Ched Evans, a £3m summer signing who has yet to really fire, and Jamie Ward, a cheap buy from Chesterfield who has excelled at the higher level, in the same match to collar bone and hamstring injuries in the same match just as we enter the run in is hugely unfortunate.

The second problem, in my opinion, is the style of play. Kevin Blackwell has always been a direct manager at Leeds and Luton but for whatever reason he's almost given up on any idea of constructing moves and attacks and ordered his Sheff Utd players to just launch the ball down the field every time they get it - hence the importance of Darius Henderson. Now this has achieved some success, particularly at home where only Cardiff and Newcastle have won and both could count themselves fortunate to have done that. Away from home though this one dimensional tactic has seen them found out time and time again. The third reason, linked in with this style of play, is the away form which has seen them win only four times (the same as us, and we know how bad we are away from home at the moment) and seven consecutive defeats, five of them without scoring, culminating in a 1-0 defeat at bottom placed Peterborough in the week. As a visiting team you have to offer your hosts more to think about than a constant barrage of long balls down the middle of the field - even the worst teams in this league will laugh you out of town if that's the best you can do.

The fourth reason is a lack of a cutting edge that has seen them draw far too many games at home. Yes they've only lost twice, but they've drawn seven times including stalemates with the likes of QPR and Derby who, let's be fair, have been cannon fodder for most teams on their own patches this season. Ched Evans has failed to hit the heights of his spell with Norwich since signing from Man City in the summer, although Billy Sharp's success at Doncaster after a barren spell at Bramall Lane suggests this could again be down to the dire style of play rather than any problem with the player.

United could, easily, make the play offs this season and go one better than last year when they lost the final to Burnley. However to do so they need to string some wins together to close the four point gap on the teams above them and with injuries mounting once again and their away form that of a relegation team it's hard to see them doing it. For every home win that moves them closer, there's an away defeat just around the corner to move them further away. I expect them to stagnate where they are now and I would personally not be surprised to see Blackwell departing come the end of the campaign.

The Manager: Having seen Leeds United fall apart around his ears and then Luton Town as well Kevin Blackwell must have started to think he was cursed. Harshly sacked from both clubs while doing a reasonable job in trying circumstances he landed on his feet at a reasonably secure club with a decent playing squad when he succeeded Bryan Robson as Blades boss midway through the 2007/08 campaign. Following Robson is always a good thing to do because however incompetent you are, you’re never going to be that incompetent but I would say Blackwell has underachieved so far.

Blackwell was a goalkeeper in his playing days, and an assistant to Neil Warnock when he cut his coaching teeth, but his style of play has moved on from direct to all out dire long ball nonsense that makes United one of the most uninspiring teams in the entire division. Brian Howard decamped to Reading after barely six months at Bramall Lane bemoaning the style of play and smaller strikers like Billy Sharp and Ched Evans have scored freely for the likes of Norwich and Doncaster in this division while struggling in the remorselessly direct atmosphere of Blackwell’s team. They are thoroughly horrible to watch.

Sheff Utd last year were tough, uncompromising, nasty at times, and very difficult to beat but were also pretty uninspiring and completely outplayed by Burnley at Wembley in the play off final - the second time in his career Blackwell has lost a Championship play off final. His post match hissy fit seemed to set the scene for a walk out and I would say he is unlikely to be around this time next year if United fail in their quest to return to the Premiership for a third time. Parachute payments end this summer and the going will only get tougher if they cannot get up this season. Rumblings of discontent abound.

Three to Watch: I suppose in light of Friday's newspaper rumours that Neil Warnock is looking to take advantage of Nick Montgomery's contract situation at Bramall Lane by adding him to his QPR squad for next season many Rangers fans will have their eyes on the Blades midfielder this Saturday - if they do, they may get quite bored quite quickly. Warnock always has a player like this in his teams - it was Shaun Derry at Crystal Palace - who roams around in front of the back four immediately hacking any opposition midfielder that dares to break from a deep lying area to the ground. Rangers currently have Mikele Leigertwood doing that job, but he's wildly inconsistent, and Gavin Mahon is probably a better bet but it wouldn't surprise me to see Warnock add a trusted former allie in that department - although he did once transfer list the player during his time at Bramall Lane only for Montgomery to play himself back into favour. Expect nothing spectacular, and plenty of unsung, unnoticed work freeing the attacking midfielders of defensive duties.

You don’t have to watch United and their frankly brutal style of play for very long to pick out the key man in the line up. Striker Darius Henderson is the focal point of the entire Blades team with every player on the field immediately looking high and long for him as soon as they take possession of the ball. The game plan is simple, get the ball to Henderson quickly and then feed off him in and around the penalty box. You would think that would be absolutely ideal for a little goal poacher like Billy Sharp or Ched Evans but neither have really impressed since big money moves to Bramall Lane despite both doing excellently in this league for Doncaster and Norwich respectively.

Henderson on the other hand has absolutely thrived under Blackwell’s guidance. As a striker with a mediocre goal record of one in four he looked over priced when Sheff Utd spent £2m on him from Watford last summer and initially he was in the shadow of James Beattie a little bit. Once Beattie went to Stoke in January and Henderson became the main hit man though he started to flourish and he has been one of the only Sheff Utd players to come out of this season so far with any credit at all. After failing to score in his first eight appearances this season he has twelve to his name in total in an injury and suspension hit season so far.

And I suppose we better make the third man to watch Richard Cresswell given that he has scored in all three meetings between these two sides this season, and bagged one against us for Stoke the season before last. There's a few of these mediocre strikers that love to score against QPR knocking around the Championship, although with Cresswell it's especially hard to understand exactly why we deal with him so incompetently. As bog standard and limited striker as we're like to face all season and yet we've already given him three goals. Mind blowing.

Links >>> Sheff Utd Official Website >>> Sheff Utd Message Board >>> Travel Guide

History
Recent Meetings:
Paul Hart was only in charge of QPR for five matches, but three of them were against Sheffield United. He started life as QPR manager with a dire draw against Sheffield United at Loftus Road just before Christmas. Mikele Leigertwood gave Hart the best possible start to life in the Rangers’ dugout with a goal against his former club inside the opening minute but Ben Watson’s wayward back pass allowed Halford to set up Cresswell for an equaliser soon afterwards. Although Watson went close to winning the game with a header against the bar in stoppage time a draw always looked the favourite result with United happy to remorselessly waste time for every time the ball went out of play for the final hour of the game.

QPR: Cerny 6, Ramage 5, Stewart 6, Gorkss 7, Williams 7, Routledge 6, Leigertwood 6, Watson 5, Simpson 5 (Vine 68, 3), Taarabt 6, Agyemang 6
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Hall, Pellicori, Faurlin, Balanta, Parker
Booked: Stewart (foul)
Goals: Leigertwood 2 (unassisted)

Sheff Utd: Bunn 6, Stewart 7, Kilgallon 7, Morgan 7, Walker 7, Montgomery 7, Quinn 8, Kallio 6, Harper 6, Cresswell 6, Ward 7
Subs Not Used: Bennett, France, Evans, Reid, Little, Geary, Camara.
Booked: Morgan (foul), Bunn (time wasting)
Goals: Cresswell 8 (assisted Halford)

The teams then repeated the dose at Bramall Lane in the third round of the FA Cup at the beginning of January. Rangers had Wayne Rotuledge in flying form against Andy Taylor and it was the speedy winger, since sold to Newcastle, who ran into the right channel and crossed for Jay Simpson to slam home the opening goal for Rangers at the Kop End of Bramall Lane. A first FA Cup win in nine years looked to be on the cards but in one additional minute at the end of the first half dire defending from a routine long throw allowed Richard Cresswell to rise and head home his second goal against QPR in as many matches. QPR were marginally the better of the two teams, but the Blades certainly had the better of the chances and twice thumped the bar with Stephen Quinn firing against it from close range in the first half and Ched Evans almost snapping it in half with a wonderful free kick ten minutes from time.

Sheff Utd: Bunn 6, Geary 6, Morgan 7, Kilgallon 7 (Seip 46, 6), Taylor 5, Ward 6 (Little 87, -), Montgomery 5, Quinn 6 (Williamson 78, 6), Cresswell 7, Evans 6, Camara 6
Subs Not Used: Bennett, France, Reid, Harper
Booked: Cresswell (handball), Taylor (foul), Geary (foul)
Goals: Cresswell 45 (assisted Quinn)

QPR: Cerny 6, Ramage 6, Stewart 7, Gorkss 7, Borrowdale 6, Routledge 7, Faurlin 6, Leigertwood 6, Buzsaky 5 (Ephraim 71, 6), Simpson 6, Agyemang 5 (Helguson 85, -)
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Hall, Connolly, Balanta, Parker
Booked: Faurlin (foul)
Goals: Simpson 39 (assisted Routledge)

That meant a replay at Loftus Road a week and a half later by which time Hart was already rubbing QPR supporters up the wrong way with miserable long ball tactics and ridiculous substitutions that had brought loud choruses of "you don't know what you're doing" on more than one occasion since he arrived. United, a poor team away from home in general this season, took the R's apart in the first 70 minutes to apply further pressure to the beleaguered QPR manager. Lee Williamson scored before half time and then two goals in a minute from Ward and Cresswell yet again put the tie out of Rangers' reach and led to a mass exodus of an already sparse 6000 crowd. A very harsh penalty decision for handball gave Buzsaky a chance to pull a goal back and when Damion Stewart headed home late on an unlikely comeback looked on - especially as substitute Antonio German ran the Blades ragged late on and twice went close to bagging an equaliser. This merely papered over substantial cracks though and Hart had walked out within a week.

QPR: Cerny 4, Borrowdale 5, Ramage 6, Gorrks 7, Stewart 6, Buzsaky 6, Faurlin 7 (Taarabt 69, 6), Leigetwood 6, Routledge 6, Simpson 5 (German 80, 7), Agyemang 7
Subs not used: McWeeney, Hall, Connolly, Balanta, Ephraim
Bookings: Gorkss (foul)
Goals: Buzsaky 71 (penalty), Stewart 88 (assisted Buzsaky)

Sheff Utd: Bunn, Geary (Walker 80), Morgan, Seip, Taylor,Quinn, Harper, Montgomery, Williamson (Ward 67), Evans,Cresswell (Henderson 74)
Subs Not Used: Bennett, France, Stewart, Little
Booked: Evans, Seip, Quinn
Goals: Williamson 19, Ward 68, Cresswell 70

Head to Head
Sheff Utd Wins – 14
Draws – 18
QPR wins – 15

Previous Sheff Utd v QPR results:
2009/10 QPR 2 Sheff Utd 3 (Buzsaky, Stewart) FA Cup
2009/10 Sheff Utd 1 QPR 1 (Simpson) FA Cup
2009/10 QPR 1 Sheff Utd 1 (Leigertwood)
2008/09 QPR 0 Sheff Utd 0
2008/09 Sheff Utd 3 QPR 0
2007/08 QPR 1 Sheff Utd 1 (Balanta)
2007/08 Sheff Utd 2 QPR 1 (Agyemang)
2005/06 Sheff Utd 2 QPR 3 (Nygaard, Morgan og, Furlong)
2005/06 QPR 2 Sheff Utd 1 (Bircham, Moore)
2004/05 Sheff Utd 3 QPR 2 (Rowlands, Gallen)
2004/05 QPR 0 Sheff Utd 1
2003/04 Sheff Utd 0 QPR 2 (Rowlands 2)
2000/01 QPR 1 Sheff Utd 3 (Ngonge)
2000/01 Sheff Utd 1 QPR 1 (Koejoe)
1999/00 Sheff Utd 1 QPR 1 (Beck)
1999/00 QPR 3 Sheff Utd 1 (Breaker, Wardley, Steiner)
1998/99 Sheff Utd 2 QPR 0
1998/99 QPR 1 Sheff Utd 2 (Peacock pen)
1997/98 QPR 2 Sheff Utd 2 (Sheron, Ready)
1997/98 Sheff Utd 2 QPR 2 (Murray, Morrow)
1996/07 QPR 1 Sheff Utd 0 (Spencer pen)
1996/97 Sheff Utd 1 QPR 1 (Slade)
1993/94 Sheff Utd 1 QPR 1 (Barker)
1993/94 QPR 2 Sheff Utd 1 (Wilson pen, Sinclair)
1992/93 Sheff Utd 1 QPR 2 (Allen, Holloway)
1992/93 QPR 3 Sheff Utd 2 (Ferdinand, Barker, Bailey)
1991/92 Sheff Utd 0 QPR 0
1991/92 QPR 1 Sheff Utd 0 (Wegerle)

Links >>> QPR 1 Sheff Utd 1 Match Report >>> Sheff Utd 1 QPR 1 Match Report >>> QPR 2 Sheff Utd 3 Match Report >>> Match Report Archive >>> Connections and Memories

This Saturday
Team News:
Neil Warnock can select an unchanged team for the third straight game should he so choose after Mikele Leigertwood came through training on Thursday with no problems - the skipper suffered a cut to his shin against Plymouth on Tuesday night and was forced to limp through the latter stages of the game with all three subs already used. Lee Cook has recovered from his virus but may have to make do with a place on the bench again. Gavin Mahon and Martin Rowlands are the long term absentees.

The Blades lost three more players to injury during the midweek defeat at Peterborough - the most serious was the broken colar bone sustained by £3m striker Ched Evans compounding a difficult first season at Bramall Lane for the former Man City man. Jamie Ward and Lee Williamson also pulled hamstrings at London Road and have been ruled out. Mark Yeates and Stephen Quinn will compete to replace Williamson while manager Kevin Blackwell has strikers Darius Henderson and Henri Camara back in contention to replace Evans in attack. Gary Naysmith, Ryan France and Derek Geary are all long term absentees.

Elsewhere: It seems Sky have just given up on their Championship coverage with no game scheduled for a live slot again this weekend. The standout fixture would appear to be the north east derby between Middlesbrough and Newcastle at the Riverside Stadium - Newcastle are closing in on the title while Boro still hold out hope of making the play offs, this has been a Premiership fixture for the last decade. The battle at the bottom is heating up with four teams on between 37 and 39 points - Ipswich appear to have climbed away from trouble somewhat but defeat to Scunthorpe this weekend could drag them back into it. Watford v Peterborough is another clash of relegation haunted sides while Palace face Barnsley and Sheff Wed have a tough trip to Swansea. Leicester v Cardiff is a battle of two teams in the play offs although with massive unrest around the chairmanship of Peter Ridsdale the Welsh side look all set for their annual collapse in form over the final ten games of the campaign.

Referee: A regular face at QPR games over the past ten years, Anthony Bates, is the man in charge of this one. Bates has already refereed QPR in South Yorkshire this season, a 2-0 defeat at Doncaster, and he was also in charge for the Blades' three one defeat at Scunthorpe before Christmas. More details at the link below.

Links >>> Dean Sturridge Memorial Injury List >>> Arthur Gnohere Discipline Counter >>> Bates referees Blades clash >>> Referee League

Form
Sheff Utd: United's form, on the road at least, has crashed through the floor with seven consecutive away defeats in which they have failed to score on five occasions since a 3-2 win at Loftus Road in the FA Cup. Their form at Bramall Lane has held up where they are unbeaten in ten since a 1-0 defeat by Newcastle in November. They have won seven of those games, including four of their last five, although Derby got a point here last month and the toothless Plymouth side that we shut out on Tuesday bagged three in defeat here last time out - since then the Blades have lost consecutive away games 1-0 and suffered major injury problems. So far this season only Newcastle and Cardiff have won on this ground, in consecutive games at the end of October and start of November. Seven teams have left with draws, including QPR in the FA Cup third round in January although we then lost the replay at home and United were beaten at Bolton in round four.

QPR: Rangers' clean sheet on Tuesday against Plymouth was the first shut out the R's have achieved in 25 attempts, a Football League record this season. It brings to an end the weekly copy and paste routine for this section of the LoftforWords preview. The away form remains a growing problem though. When QPR won in this city against Sheff Wed at the start of December they were fourth in the table and had already recorded four road wins having only managed three in the whole of 2008/09. Sadly the figure has not been advanced since - Rangers have lost seven and drawn three of ten on the road since then conceding 22 goals in the process, have not scored at all in their last four away games. They have won three of their last four games though since the Bhatia and Saksena takeover and Neil Warnock has two wins from two matches since taking over as manager. While Bramall Lane is a relatively happy hunting ground for QPR (11 draws and two wins from the last 20 visits) the R's have not beaten Sheff Utd in seven attempts and have not won here since 2006 when Paul Furlong and Marc Nygaard were on the scoresheet in a 3-2 win when Gary Waddock was the manager.

Prediction: Rangers love a draw on this ground, 11 of the last 20 meetings at Bramall Lane have finished level. United have Darius Henderson back which is hugely important to the way they play but without Jamie Ward, Lee Williamson and Ched Evans I expect them to lack what little guile they have shown against us in the previous three meetings this season - certainly Ward has been their most impressive performer against us this season. QPR should have the personnel at centre half to deal with an arm wrestle and will have renewed confidence after consecutive wins and the arrival of Neil Warnock who won't want to lose on his most famous old stomping ground. I think a draw is highly likely here, either nil nil or one one.
Draw

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