Sheffield United were in action eight days ago in the Capital where the two teams drew 1-1; it was always going to be an uneasy encounter at Loftus Road with the Hoops blowing hot and cold recently as well as appointing a new manager in the form of Paul Hart. And his new leadership obviously rubbed off on the shoulders of the QPR faithful as Mikele Leigertwood opened the scoring within 88 seconds.
A half hearted Clearance fell to the former Blades midfielder on the edge of the box and his low drive took a slight deflection as it spun past Mark Bunn and into the net; ten games ago that would have been game set and match for a United team with little faith but they have a new assurgency and made it seven games unbeaten when Richard Cresswell (8) tucked home Toni Kallio's low cross to put the Blades into a respectable 7th league position.
Blades boss Kevin Blackwell could feature Richard Cresswell and Lee Williamson to feature against Preston North End; both have represented the Lilywhites during their playing careers.
Cresswell signed for North End after a successful loan spell in July 2001 from Leicester City; he scored on his debut in a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and went onto completing a £500,000 move after a successful loan spell which ended in a 3-0 defeat in the Play-Off Final to Bolton Wanderers. During the 2004/05 season he netted two hat-tricks against Leicester City (league cup) and Sunderland, both ending in 3-2 victories.
They reached the Play-Off Final again at the end of that season and again ending in defeat; losing 1-0 to West Ham United. He started three fixtures of the 2005/06 campaign before making a £1,150,000 move to Leeds United in September 2005; he left the club having made 178 (+28) appearances and scoring 58 goals.
Williamson spent time at North End on loan; joining in March 2009 until the remainder of the season (from Watford); he made his debut in a 1-1 draw at Bristol City and scored in the 6-0 home win over Cardiff City, however he was cruelly sent-off in the 2-1 victory at Birmingham City and was suspended for the two play-off fixtures against Sheffield United. He made just five (+0) starts and scored once for the Lancashire club.
Possible Blades Line-Up: Mark Bunn, Kyle Walker, Chris Morgan, Matthew Kilgallon, Andy Taylor, Jamie Ward, Nick Montgomery, James Harper, Stephen Quinn, Richard Cresswell, Henri Camara.
Preston North End travelled to the City Ground just over a week ago for the teatime kick-off of 5.20pm with the game on live TV before facing Barnsley at Deepdale on Boxing Day. They were handed a footballing lesion by Forest who romped to a 3-0 victory without much reply from the visitors - Paul McKenna (16 minutes), Dale Adebola (25) and Lewis McGugan (81) all netting for the home side.
Midfielder Ross Wallace picked up his fifth booking of the season in that heavy defeat at the City Ground and will have been suspended for the fixture against the Tykes on Boxing Day; however he should have returned from suspension to face the Blades tomorrow at Bramall Lane.
Lilywhites boss Alan Irvine may see defender Billy Jones (twisted ankle) recover from his injury to travel to Bramall Lane whilst former Liverpool forward Neil Mellor (dead leg) is also expected to make a return.
Midfielder Michael Tonge is expected to face his former club for the first time since he left Bramall Lane in September 2008. He came through the youth ranks with the Blades; signing a professional contract in August 2000 and making his debut as a substitute in a 1-0 home defeat to Wimbledon (now MK Dons).
His most notable season with the Blades came during the 2002/03 campaign where the Blades reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and League Cup whilst they were also beaten finalists in the Play-Offs; he netted eight goals in an epic season which saw him score twice against Liverpool in a 2-1 win - and helped the Blades win promotion to the Premier League in 2006.
He played his final game for United in a 0-0 home draw with Cardiff City before joining current club Stoke City; Tonge made 269 (+33) starts for the Red and White Wizards and scored 24 goals. He is
currently on-loan to the Lancashire club.
Possible Lilywhites Line-Up: Andy Lonergan, Callum Davidson, Dominic Collins, Liam Chilvers, Billy Jones, Richard Chaplow, Chris Sedgwick, Paul Parry, Michael Tonge, Ross Wallace, Chris Brown
Blades-Mad Prediction: Sheffield United 2-0 Preston North End
This match preview was created prior to the Blades visit to Leicester City due to the Christmas period and therefore some information may be inaccurate.
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:: Statistics ::
For Head to Head statistics please click here.
Last 10 Games... Home & Away
2008/2009 | Mon 11 May | Sheff. Utd. | Preston N.E. | Football League Play-Offs (Lvl 2) | |
Sheffield United won 2-1 on aggregate | |||||
Fri 08 May | Preston N.E. | Sheff. Utd. | Football League Play-Offs (Lvl 2) | ||
Sat 31 Jan | Preston N.E. | Sheff. Utd. | Championship | ||
Sat 25 Oct | Sheff. Utd. | Preston N.E. | Championship | ||
2007/2008 | Sat 29 Mar | Preston N.E. | Sheff. Utd. | Championship | |
Sat 20 Oct | Sheff. Utd. | Preston N.E. | Championship | ||
2005/2006 | Fri 16 Dec | Preston N.E. | Sheff. Utd. | Championship | |
Sat 20 Aug | Sheff. Utd. | Preston N.E. | Championship | ||
2004/2005 | Tue 15 Mar | Sheff. Utd. | Preston N.E. | Championship | |
Fri 20 Aug | Preston N.E. | Sheff. Utd. | Championship | ||
Head to Head Statistics... | Goals | |||||
Venue | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against |
Home | 49 | 34 | 9 | 6 | 95 | 44 |
Away | 50 | 9 | 17 | 24 | 89 | 52 |
Total | 99 | 43 | 26 | 30 | 147 | 133 |
* Statistics correct up to and including 01/08/2009
:: Match Officials ::
Referee: T. Kettle
Assistants: K. Haycock & I. Siddall
Fourth Official: N. Murphy