QPRnet.com :: The Pre-Match Warm Up

The Pre-Match Warm Up
Friday 9th March 2007
by Ron Norris & Simon Skinner

RANGERS FACE OWLS

The R's welcome Sheffield Wednesday to Loftus Road on Saturday and three points are much needed. With new signing Inigo Idiakez set to make his QPR debut will the Spaniard's arrival help to galvanise Rangers to a much needed victory?

Match Preview

TEAM NEWS

After snapping up Inigo Idiakez on a month’s loan from Southampton the Basque midfielder is sure to start in the middle of the park, most likely in place of Steve Lomas. Dexter Blackstock is back from his one match ban and he is likely to partner Paul Furlong up top after the veteran broke his duck at Ipswich last week. Bignot got through an hour in the reserves in the week so he is likely to be on the bench at least. After making a surprise appearance on the bench last week Stefan Moore is likely to be in the XVI again. Marc Bircham is still laid up with his back problem.

Former MK Dons winger Wade Small should replace the injured Jamal Johnson and Marcus Tudgay, who bagged a brace against Rangers at Hillsborough in October, is back from a ban and may return at the expense of midweek scorer Steven MacLean. Ex-Plymouth bruiser Graham Coughlan is missing on compassionate leave following the death of his brother recently.

RON & SIMON'S SELECT XI
		Blackstock	Furlong


	Cook	Idiakez	Bolder	Rowlands


	Timoska	Stewart	Cullip	Mancienne


		Camp

A QUICK GUIDE TO OUR OPPONENTS

OWLS IN BRIEF

Last time Rangers played The Owls they were under the stewardship of caretaker manager Sean McAuley following the controversial sacking of Paul Sturrock. He was replaced by Brian Laws after his exploits at Scunthorpe and suddenly everyone is a bit happier again! Laws has lead his team to safety and will now look to mount a play off charge next season.

TOP SCORERS

Name	FLC	FAC	LC	Total
Chris Brunt	10	0	0	10
Steven MacLean	9	0	0	9
Marcus Tudgay	9	0	0	9
Dion Burton	7	0	0	7
Glenn Whelan	6	0	1	7


LAST FIVE GAMES
Date	Versus	Venue	F	A
06/03/07	Plymouth	Home	1	1
03/03/07	Leeds	Away	3	2
24/02/07	Southend	Home	3	2
20/02/07	Luton	Away	2	3
10/02/07	Burnley	Away	1	1

CLASH OF THE DAY

Inigo Idiakez v. Chris Brunt. This could be a real battle of the midfield maestros as two players with fearsome reputations for long range shooting go head to head. Brunt has scored some crackers this season including a beautiful lob at Leeds this past week. Inigo hasn’t had a great time of it at Saints this season but a screamer against The Owls might be just the tonic to get his season, and ours, off and running.

RANGERS VERSUS .....

LAST TIME OUT

Sheffield Wednesday 3 - 2 Queens Park Rangers
Saturday 21st October 2006

“MacLean tried to put the moves on Jones and had seemed to have sat him down before the Welsh keeper snaked out a leg to execute a perfect block tackle. There was a look of sheer horror on his face though when the ever fussy Mr Hill arrived in the box and pointed for the penalty. It was a staggering decision; Jones had won the ball as cleanly as any outfield player might when trying to challenge. There is no way Hill could have seen the challenge clearly from where he was so he just guessed.”

HEAD TO HEAD
Overall
Played	QPR	Sheff Weds	Draws
53	17	25	11
At Loftus Road
Played	QPR	Sheff Weds	Draws
26	11	7	8


LEAGUE STANDINGS
Pos	Team	P	GD	Pts
13th	Sheffield Weds	36	-3	48
21st	QPR	35	-16	35

OTHER MEETINGS

Wednesday are ahead in the league head to head with twenty two wins to Rangers’ sixteen. Rangers’ last win against Wednesday at Loftus Road came in our promotion season when strikes from Steve Palmer, Tony Thorpe and Kevin McLeod wrapped up a routine 3-0 win.

GENERAL INFORMATION

THE REFEREE

Andy Woolmer takes charge of his first Rangers game. It is the second week in a row we have had a new official to pick on and hopefully we won’t leave the ground cursing him like that putz last week! There will be cards aplenty, Woolmer books players at a rate of over 3.5 per game and he has sent 7 off.

THE REF RECORD
Season	Games	Yellows	Reds
2006-07	30	107	7
2005-06	42	125	10
2004-05	29	75	7
2003-04	16	63	11


OPPONENTS LINKS
Official Website	SWFC.co.uk
Fans Website	SheffieldWednesday.com
Message Board	Owls Zone


MATCH DAY ODDS
Bookie	QPR	Draw	Sheff Weds
	11/8	21/10	13/8
	11/8	11/5	8/5
	11/8	11/5	13/8

QPR CONNECTIONS

Danny Maddix built a reputation as one of the best man markers in the game during his 300+ games for the R’s.

I heard him described by one friend of the site as a player that could win man of the match and not have had a touch of the ball.

He was farmed out to South Yorkshire and managed another 50+ games for Wednesday before moving on to Barnet. One tip though, don’t bother trying to get more than five minutes of the blokes time!

RON AND SIMON'S PREDICT-OFF

SIMON: The new signing should provide a lift to the players as he has undoubted quality. Whether he has had any chance to find out how the rest of them play, badly usually, remains to be seen. Wednesday had a good win at Leeds last weekend and drew with Plymouth in the week so they will come here confident of a win. I don’t think we will have enough to beat them but by the same token, I can’t see them beating us. 1-1.

RON: The Owls have had a decent turn around since Brian Laws took over but the away form hasn't been great this year. They've only won once on their travels since the start of 2007, that was at Leeds and everyone wins there, well except us. I think the signing of Idiakez will prove to be an excellent one, he is exactly what we've lacked in the centre of midfield and although I thought we might win this one before he joined us, I'm even more sure now. 2-1 to Rangers.

Current score: Ron 25 Simon 21

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	Queens Park Rangers v Sheffield Wednesday The Championship Saturday 10th March 2007 Kick Off 15:00