 Friday, 14th Jan 2011 00:21 by Clive Whittingham QPR return to league action on Saturday after a successful Christmas period, but a five point lead at the top of the table is set against worrying noises from behind the scenes ahead of a trip to Burnley. Burnley (10th) v QPR (1st)Npower Championship >>> Saturday, January 15, 2011 >>> Kick Off 3pm >>> Turf Moor, Burnley In the grand scheme of football QPR fans have nothing to be worried about. Our very competent team and it’s superb manager currently sits five points clear at the top of the Championship having successfully negotiated a gruelling Christmas period and history of success in this division dictates that it will require a collapse never previously hinted at by this set of players to avoid the top two, and one of such magnitude only the 1995/96 Millwall side ever pulled it off for us to miss out on the top six altogether. At the start of the season I’d have shaken your hand and walked away had you offered me a play off spot, now if the Championship stays true to its recent form, we can be in the Premiership in 21 game’s time just by winning 12 of them. I’m also not one of these fans who is only ever happy when a new player is being signed by their club either. “We need to sign a proven Championship striker,” people crowed before Tommy Smith and Rob Hulse arrived on the same day. While the rest of the division marvelled at that statement of intent the “we’re three signings away from a decent team” brigade paused for a moment, took a sip of bleach, and then simply started repeating the “we need to sign a proven Championship striker” mantra again. One of QPR’s many problems in recent times has been too many managers adding too many signings on top of too many other signings by too many other managers. Every transfer window we have plastered another layer of five or six players on top of the five or six we bought in the previous window. Until recently it was always a different manager doing it as well so the layers were formed of different kinds of players, signed for different reasons by different managers to do different jobs in different systems. The result is that just three years after our takeover by rich backers we’re desperately trying to offload the high earning, under-performing tat we bought to start with – and having little success in doing so as Rowan Vine and Fitz Hall continue to loiter like vastly overpaid, injury prone bad smells. So while the calls persist to “show intent” and “get the cheque book out” I have been, until recently, quite happy with the lot that we’ve got and wouldn’t have been unduly concerned had we got until the end of January without signing anybody new. I appreciate that such a scenario would be seen as an absolute disaster by many and a sign that our board members have lost interest and won’t put their hands in their pockets although I struggle to think sometimes what exactly people who believe this think the 32 permanent signings and 25 loan deals made since the takeover have been paid for and with. To say QPR have a first team built with tens of millions of pounds in transfer fees is wrong, but to accuse the board of not spending money on the team is just plain daft. However with Kyle Walker now elsewhere and Jamie Mackie still picking bits of his shin bone out of the Ewood Park turf it’s plainly obvious that QPR need to find replacements for what have become two absolutely key components of our success this season. While Bradley Orr seems to have been completely forgotten about by some, dazzled by our shiny new toy from Spurs, he’s a player I rate very highly and somebody I was glad we signed, but left back where Walker had played occasionally remains a worry. Mackie’s absence is more of a concern – his work rate and energy set the tone for the rest of the team and it’s that we’ll miss more than any footballing ability he offers, especially if Warnock continues with his baffling fascination in Leon Clarke who weighs as much as a cement mixer but offers all the presence, and usefulness, of a soiled piece of toilet paper. That’s on top of the worry that we don’t play as well when Helguson doesn’t start, and that our centre halves struggle when faced with a physical challenge such as the one set to be posed on Saturday by Burnley’s Chris Iwelumo. I’ve said on the message board my dream, and not altogether unrealistic, shopping list this January would be Curtis Davies, Bruno Berner, Martyn Waghorn and Ishmael Miller but we’ve long since established I know nothing and Warnock would probably swiftly rule out all four for a variety of reasons. The big worry for me though is the sudden presence at training and in reserve games of Emmanuel Ledesma. I’ve no real beef with the lad as a player or a person – he seemed keen and skilful, but lightweight and naïve when he was last here. But the strength of Neil Warnock at QPR is similar to that of Harry Redknapp at Tottenham and Ledesma’s return could undermine it. Both clubs tried a foreign system where ‘non-football’ people were making football decisions and the manager was merely a head coach and it failed miserably. Both clubs went out of their way to completely do away with that by appointing Redknapp and Warnock and the success for both in allowing a traditional English manager to manage in the traditional English way has been there for all to see in the league tables. Ledesma harks back to an era when Flavio Briatore and Gianni Paladini had far, far, far, far, far too much input into our starting eleven. Neither has ever gone away, but the balance has been restored since Warnock was appointed. The manager’s quote on Thursday: “"The powers-that-be want me to have a look at the lad – and that’s fine with me. But I do need to get other players in, so I hope that if Emmanuel does get invited to stay – it doesn’t affect our other plans,” fills me with dread. Invited to stay? Isn’t that Warnock’s decision? This, and other quotes recently about missing out on Kyle Naughton because of money and his interview in the Guardian last week sound horribly like exactly the same things Iain Dowie was saying when he wanted to sign Clinton Morrison, Mark Hudson and others and was instead presented with Ledesma, Sam Di Carmine and Damiano Tomassi. It may be that Paladini, Briatore and the other “powers that be” have been inviting players for Warnock to “have a look at” all along, and Ledesma is just getting coverage because he has been here before. After all, little has been said about Darko Zec, the Slovenian who arrived on trial at the same time. If that’s the case then fine, but Warnock’s barbed comment makes me uneasy about the developing situation. If we cannot afford the players that Warnock wishes to sign then fine, tell him that. The mathematically challenged among the support will say the board has been tight and won’t put its hand in its pocket when you only have to look at our squad compared to our gate to know that’s not true. But don’t, dear God, let’s go down the route we did with Dowie again where the manager asks for four specific players and ends up presented with cheaper foreign equivalents from rich chums of Briatore and Paladini’s agent friends. Five Minutes on BurnleyThe story so far: The Clarets have basically spent the first half of the season being the exact opposite of the QPR success story. Rangers began the season with a starting 11 that didn’t exactly leap off the page and scream promotion but under the guidance of a manager who has been a serial promotion winner through a career that has taken in a host of different clubs and scenarios. Burnley kicked off in August boasting a team of players with at least a season of Premiership experience under their belts, fresh pots of money that the top flight readily provides for even its three worst teams in any given season, and with pundits falling over themselves to tip a return to the big time at the first attempt. Problem is for everything they have going for them, Burnley have been hamstrung until a fortnight ago by the presence of a manager who has consistently failed whenever presented with a task above League One level. A man out of his depth at best, an absolute footballing dunce at worst – have Burnley sacked Brian Laws in time? Burnley have a team that in a weak Championship this season should be viewing anything other than a top four finish as a failure. Many were part of the side that won the Championship play offs the season before last and top quality Championship players can be found at every turn of their squad’s pen pictures. Chris Eagles, Wade Elliott, Chris Iwelumo, Martin Paterson, Lee Grant, Dan Fox, Mike Duff, Clarke Carlisle, Graham Alexander – these are really good Championship players, players who have succeeded in this division many times before with Burnley and other clubs. Throw in Jay Rodriguez who, after several years knocking around on the periphery and vaguely threatening a breakthrough, is finally establishing himself and attracting scouts to Turf Moor and there really is no excuse for Burnley’s current position of tenth in the league which, should it remain through until May, would be under-achievement on a criminal level. Laws was a terrible, terrible appointment. A former player at Burnley granted, and a success story at Scunthorpe transforming the club from bottom division mainstays into an outfit capable of punching two divisions above its weight on a consistent basis, but at Sheffield Wednesday after a startling run in his first 20 games that threatened an unlikely promotion he was a failure. When presented with money to spend he spunked it on expensive wastes of space like Leon Clarke and Francis Jeffers. His Wednesday team was relegation fodder long before it finally succumbed, and was bloody dreadful to watch with it. Burnley, balking at the £1m asking price placed on the man they should have appointed by Doncaster Rovers, praised Laws’ “success” on a limited Hillsborough budget. There’s a reason northerners have a tight fisted stereotype attached to their image, Laws’ appointment at Turf Moor was extreme penny pinching, and a false economy. His first action, in what was admittedly an almost impossible job of following the superb Owen Coyle into the job, was to sign players like Leon Cort and Dean Marney for a Premiership team. As a policy it was reminiscent of Ian Holloway arriving at Leicester and stating how much he was looking forward to finally having some money to spend only to then go out and buy the same old Barry Hayles he always had done, and then play him out of position for good measure. Given the benefit of the doubt following the inevitable relegation Laws presided over a first half of the season that included one away win. One. Look at those players in their squad again. One away win. They took those players to Palace, Sheff Utd, Ipswich, Middlesbrough and Coventry – poor teams, relatively winnable places to go, places our notoriously travel sick team has gone and performed at this year. One win at Barnsley was all they had to show for it. Never mind sacked, Laws should have been arrested on fraud for masquerading as a manager. Ultimately it needed a home defeat to seal his fate, ironically against the Scunthorpe club he made his name with. Scunny, despite their lack of ability and poor league position, have a good away record this season and it says something of the lack of clear thinking in the Burnley board room that it took a home defeat against a side with six away wins to its name (QPR top the table and have only won five on the road) to get rid of a clearly clueless boss rather than the succession of piss poor performances and results in any of the previous 11 away games. Have they done it in time? I find myself performing what the Americans call a ‘double face palm’ when clubs allow managers to spend the transfer window budget on their own players only to then get the sack a week or so later when the replacement has no money or transfers left to play with so they may well have done it in the nick of time. However an at times ludicrous pursuit of potential replacements, which has so far consisted of a Lou and Andy type routine where they simply point at the best managers in the league and declare publicly “I want that one”, means they are still without a gaffer as we approach the half way point of the transfer window. The squad doesn’t need much surgery, just the guidance of somebody that knows what they are doing. If they can make up for the disastrous decision they made this time last year with a good appointment this time they could be a very dangerous outfit in the second half of the campaign. The Manager: For the first time in writing these columns this season, there isn’t one. Stuart Gray is the man in caretaker charge but his brief and uninspiring spell in charge of Southampton (then a Premiership team) in 2001 when he was promoted from within and then swiftly removed when it was clear a mistake had been made and a similarly lacklustre time with Northampton from 2007 to 2009 means he should be left to do little other than hold the fort, and even then I’d have a decent night watchman with him. Gray will be in charge on Saturday come what may, but it seems the Clarets may be ready to announce a permanent replacement to start work on Monday. They had hoped that man would be Norwich’s Paul Lambert – and attempted to achieve that by making an official approach for the Norwich boss and then telling the world about it. Personally I’d quite like Jose Mourinho to manage QPR but I think there’s a little bit more to it than telling everybody that and then popping a fax over to Madrid asking him to catch the first plane into Heathrow. Lambert is settled, and successful, at Norwich which is a club with huge potential and support that Burnley simply doesn’t have. I wondered when I read the official approach on the Burnley website whether Lambert’s agent may have tipped the Clarets the wink – either because he is unhappy with Norwich for some reason and wants to leave, or wants to extract some more transfer money or wages from them this January. The swift nature of Norwich, and Lambert’s, rejection reminded me of the time I asked Jenna from my A-Level Geography class out for a date. The cruel cackle of incredulous laughter that only a person who had never even considered the idea and hadn’t really taken the proposal seriously is unmistakeable. They tried a similar, although less confident and public (you’re always more cautious in future), tact with Malky Mackay at Watford and seem to have been told to politely piss off there as well. And so it seems the unlikely link between Burnley and Bournemouth that has previously brought players like Wade Elliott and Garreth O’Connor north following an FA Cup tie between the two sides in 2005 may be about to be forged again. Eddie Howe, one of the Football League’s youngest managers at 33 but somebody with one promotion despite severe financial restrictions under his belt, could well be the man to take charge at Turf Moor. Howe is a Bournemouth legend, and the work he has done as a manager so far is magnificent, but I do wonder whether he and the Cherries just fit and he would struggle to translate the success elsewhere. Perhaps not, I thought the same about Nigel Adkins at Scunthorpe and he is doing very nicely indeed at Southampton. Howe won promotion from League Two last season with a squad of less than 20 players and a transfer embargo in place. Restrictions still in place, they are now second in League One and although he rejected Crystal Palace (sensible fellow) last week and pledged his future to the club as recently as Tuesday the press today (Thursday) seems certain he is heading north. Three to Watch: It’s an oft repeated mantra on this website that every player has his level, and Chris Iwelumo is surely at his now. The problem with plucking players from divisions lower than the one you currently occupy is that sometimes they just cannot make the step up. Danny Shittu is a prime example of a player who could spend most of his time at this level confidently dominating opponents without ever needing to change out of his club suit, but when thrown into the Premiership, even in a reasonably established team like Bolton, he’s so far out of his depth it almost seems cruel to watch. Tony Thorpe and some would argue, wrongly in my opinion, Gino Padula are examples of players who starred for our promotion winning team in 2004, only to find themselves released from the club a year later because the step up proved too great. It’s why people like Rickie Lambert stay in League One clocking up impressive numbers – managers just feel he, and others like him, lack that extra yard of pace or killer instinct to make the step up. Malky Mackay was promoted from this league three times with Norwich, Watford and West Ham and then having achieved that Nigel Worthington, Aidy Boothroyd and Alan Pardew made finding his replacement their top priority because they knew he could mark the likes of Clive Platt quite nicely, but would be literally terrorised by people like Thierry Henry. Chris Iwelumo is with Burnley this season because Wolves don’t think he’s good enough for the top flight despite him scoring 16 goals in this league to take them there in the first place. It’s a fair assumption – in a 14 year career spanning 13 different clubs in four different countries Iwelumo has never been a conspicuous success at the highest level and indeed is best remembered by most football fans for missing an open goal from half a yard out against Norway during one of his four Scotland appearances. He is, incidentally, actually Scottish rather than a member of the Nigel Quashie and Jamie Mackie led Dorking clan. But in this league he can be brutally effective. Big, powerful, difficult to shake off the ball and with a surprisingly wide skill set for a run of the mill target man Iwelumo has scored ten times for Burnley this season – although admittedly the stats are boosted by a hat trick against a Preston side whose defenders may have been shot for cowardice had they lived in different times. Kaspars Gorkss and Matthew Connolly have struggled with physical forwards in the past, and barely hung onto the coat tails of Grant Holt at Norwich on New Year’s Day – Iwelumo is a similar player and presents a similar challenge. Clarke Carlisle has been named as the main players’ man at the PFA since our last encounter, and received plenty of good press to go with that, but is likely to receive a frosty reception at best from the visiting fans on Saturday. Selecting the most intelligent footballer in Britain is like launching a quest to find the country’s least arrogant Manchester United fan – the field is so narrow it hardly seems worth holding a contest – and although Carlisle comes across as one of the most likeable, articulate and indeed intelligent footballers on the punditry circuit at the moment he has shown himself to be anything but bright in his actions during his footballing career. This a man who, in an age where dieticians and fitness coaches are routinely employed by football clubs, believes it acceptable to have a cigarette in his mouth whenever he’s not actually out on the pitch. And of course a man who believed the best way of aiding his recovery from a serious knee injury sustained during QPR’s darkest hour, on and off the pitch, was to pickle himself in whatever booze he could lay his hands on to such an extent that he had to spend several weeks in a clinic drying out, while naturally still drawing a wage from a football club that at the time didn’t have two penny pieces to scratch together. With that in mind he was lucky that so many QPR fans, myself included, were sympathetic to his wish to leave London in 2004 at the end of his contract and move north to be closer to his young family. I even forgave him for signing for Leeds because clearly London, away from his partner and child, was not the best environment for his recovery. Nine months later he turned up at that well known northern outpost Watford, and any sympathy I or anybody else might have felt for him quickly evaporated. He’s since carved out a reputation similar to that of Iwelumo – not quite good enough for the highest level but a stand out performer in this division. In Iwelumo’s case I get the impression that he is the absolute best he could ever have been. With Carlisle, having seen him as a teenager at Blackpool and England Under 21 international at QPR, I cannot help but think he would be a far better player had he not suffered that cruciate knee ligament injury at QPR and spent his entire career stuffing harmful filth into his liver and lungs. And for those of you that have realised this section is essentially a cut and paste of the preview earlier in the season you won’t be surprised to know that Jack Cork is still number three. It’s no surprise to see Scott Sinclair finally fulfilling his obvious potential in Swansea having found a permanent club and regular first team football after a host of loan deals. Cork is still trapped in that frustrating limbo where he’s never likely to displace the likes of Michael Essien from the Chelsea team and is instead making do with loans – Bournmouth (twice), Southampton, Scunthorpe, Watford, Coventry and Burnley (twice) to date. This hoarding of young talent in vast academies so nobody else can have it without ever intending to make any use of it is a reprehensible tactic and is stunting the growth of players like Cork, Kyle Walker, Scott Sinclair, Kyle Naughton, Jon Bostock who should be forming the backbone of the England team in years to come. The only winners are clubs like ourselves who occasionally get to borrow said bright young thing for a while at little cost but overall it’s a terrible waste and a big part of the reason we’re not bringing international quality players through to play for our national side. Cork is a bit hit at Turf Moor, and Burnley would sign him permanently in an instant given the chance. QPR must try to restrict his influence on Saturday. Links >>> Official Website >>> Message Board >>> Travel Guide HistoryThese two sides shared the spoils at Loftus Road at the end of October with Burnley the better of the two sides. Rangers, still unbeaten at this point, took the lead just after the half hour with a vintage individual strike from distance by Adel Taarabt but were pegged back on half time when a harsh penalty awarded against Matt Connolly for a meagre touch on Dean Marney gave Graham Alexander the chance to bury an equaliser from 12 yards. Paddy Kenny was in fine form with a number of saves, and Chris Eagles was substituted early after being booked for diving and then losing his temper. QPR: Kenny 8, Walker 6, Connolly 6, Gorkss 6, Hill 5, Derry 6, Faurlin 5, Ephraim 5 (Agyemang 62, 7), Taarabt 7 (Smith 82, 8), Mackie 6, Hulse 5 (Clarke 74, 5) Subs Not Used: Cerny, Orr, Leigertwood, Rowlands Booked: Taarabt (handball), Gorkss (foul), Mackie (foul) Goals: Taarabt 32 (unassisted) Burnley: Grant 6, Mears 6, Carlisle 9, Duff 8, Fox 7, Eagles 5 (Wallace 46, 6), Alexander 6, Marney 6, Elliott 6, Rodriguez 6, Iwelumo 8 (Thompson 83, -) Subs Not Used: Jensen, Cork, Paterson, Cort, Bikey Booked: Eagles (diving), Duff (foul), Alexander (foul) Goals: Alexander 45 (penalty) The last time these sides met here was in April 2009 – Burnley were about to be promoted to the Premiership and QPR had just sacked Paulo Sousa in farcical circumstances. The result was somewhat inevitable, with Gareth Ainsworth unusually quiet and hidden from view beginning his second spell as caretaker manager. The game was settled by a controversial goal just after half time – Chris Eagles deflecting Clarke Carlisle’s effort past Radek Cerny with his arm. Burnley: Jensen 7, Williams 6, Carlisle 8, Caldwell 7, Kalvenes 6, Elliott 7, Alexander 7, McCann 7, Blake 7 (Gudjonsson 79, -), Eagles 7 (McDonald 89, -), Rodriguez 7 (Paterson 86, -) Subs Not Used: Penny, Duff Booked: Kalvenes (foul) Goals: Eagles 49 (assisted Carlisle) QPR: Cerny 7, Ramage 6, Gorkss 7, Connolly 7, Delaney 6, Routledge 6, Leigertwood 4, Ephraim 6 (Lopez 71, 6), Taarabt 6, Di Carmine 6 (Cook 54, 6), Vine 6 (Alberti 84, -) Not Used: Mahon, Stewart Rangers, with Sousa in charge, had been to Turf Moor just six weeks previously for an FA Cup Third Round replay that forms part of QPR’s record breaking run of 11 years without a win in that competition. In an atmosphere more akin to a reserve match QPR were the better team for long periods of normal time and all of extra time before contriving to lose with the last kick. Sam Di Carmine gave Rangers the lead after Mikele Leigertwood had won possession in midfield just after half time and counter attacked. Martin Rowlands then hit the bar and Heidar Helguson had a goal disallowed with the most delayed offside decision ever seen before. Steve Thompson got a scruffy equaliser after a poor piece of goalkeeping by Radek Cerny to set up extra time and when QPR failed to make their possession tell penalties looked a certainty. That was until Damion Stewart made a hash of a routine long ball down the field to give Jay Rodriguez a sight of goal and, with Cerny inexplicably in no man’s land, the youngster calmly lobbed the ball towards goal and in off the post to but Burnley into the next round at West Brom. Burnley: Jensen 8, Alexander 7, Carlisle 7, Caldwell 6, Jordan 7, Elliott 6, McCann 6 (Mahon 20, 5), Gudjonsson 6 (MacDonald 84, 6), Eagles 8, Blake 6 (Rodriguez 69, 6), Thompson 7 Subs Not Used: Penny, Kalvenes, Akinbiyi, Kay Booked: Caldwell (foul), Mahon (foul) Goals: Thompson 60 (assisted Gudjohnson), Rodriguez 120 (assisted Carlisle) QPR: Cerny 4, Hall 5, Stewart 6, Gorkss 7, Delaney 5, Alberti 5, Leigertwood 8, Mahon 6 (Rose 79, 7), Rowlands 5, Ledesma 5 (Ephraim 55, 7), Di Carmine 7 (Helguson 85, 6) Subs Not Used: Borrowdale, Crowther, Connolly, Ramage Booked: Delaney (foul), Alberti (foul) Goals: Di Carmine 54 (assisted Leigertwood)
Head to Head >>> Burnley wins 19 >>> Draws 5 >>> QPR wins 10 Previous Results: 2010/11 QPR 1 Burnley 1 (Taraabt) 2008/09 Burnley 1 QPR 0 2008/09 Burnley 2 QPR 1 (Di Carmine) 2008/09 QPR 0 Burnley 0 2008/09 QPR 1 Burnley 2 (Blackstock) 2007/08 QPR 2 Burnley 4 (Mahon, Agyemang) 2007/08 Burnley 0 QPR 2 (Stewart, Vine) 2006/07 QPR 3 Burnley 1 (Cook, Blackstock, Lomas) 2006/07 Burnley 2 QPR 0 2005/06 Burnley 1 QPR 0 2005/06 QPR 1 Burnley 1 (Ainsworth) 2004/05 Burnley 2 QPR 0 2004/05 QPR 3 Burnley 0 (Gallen, Santos, Furlong) 2000/01 Burnley 2 QPR 1 (Bignot) 2000/01 QPR 0 Burnley 1 1982/83 Burnley 2 QPR 1 (Sealy) 1982/83 QPR 3 Burnley 2 (Neill, Allen, Micklewhite) Played for both – Dave Thomas Burnley 1966-72 >>> QPR 1972-76 In a career spanning twenty years and six clubs, winger Dave Thomas is best remembered both at Turf Moor and Loftus Road. Born and raised in Nottingham Thomas signed pro forms with Burnley at 16 and was tipped as a future England international. He was fast-tracked to the first team and made his debut on the last day of the 1966-67 season against Everton, a club he would later play for. In turn at 16 years and 220 days became the second youngest player ever to play for the club after Tommy Lawton. Within two years he’d become a first team regular but couldn’t stop the club from being relegated to the Second Division. However he stayed with the Clarets the following campaign and played in all but five of Burnley’s games. Speculation began to mount that Thomas would be moving on but was a surprise when he Burnley sold him to promotion rivals QPR in October 1972. Thomas, a right-winger, was brought in to replace the injured Martyn Busby who was left-winger. At first Thomas struggled to adapt to the new position but once he did he would go on to excel in his new role and become a huge fan favourite at Loftus Road with his mazy runs and ability to get skip past defenders. Thomas, socks rolled down to his ankles and not a shin pad in sight, helped Rangers to promotion in first season ironically alongside Burnley and over his four seasons in Shepherds Bush was integral part of what was arguably Rangers greatest ever team, coming within a whisker of winning the League title in 1976. He also won eight England caps in his time with Rangers and is widely recognised as one of the club’s greatest ever players. Thomas left the Super Hoops a year later a joined Everton before enjoying spells with Wolves, Middlesborough, Portsmouth and Vancouver Whitecaps. He became a PE teacher after hanging up his boots and recently featured in a ‘Time of Their Lives’ documentary for Sky Sports on the great QPR side of the 1970s. - AR Links >>> QPR 1 Burnley 1 Match Report >>> Burnley 1 QPR 0 Match Report >>> Burnley 2 QPR 1 FA Cup Replay Match Report >>> QPR 0 Burnley 0 FA Cup 3rd Round Match Report >>> QPR 1 Burnley 2 Match Report >>> Connections and Memories This SaturdayTeam News: QPR’s injury crisis should have eased slightly for this trip despite Jamie Mackie being ruled out for the season with a broken leg. He joins Patrick Agyemang, Peter Ramage and Akos Buzsaky on the long term injured list although Lee Cook can probably be removed from that having made a substitute appearance at Blackburn last week. Gavin Mahon, Martin Rowlands and Hogan Ephraim all missed that trip when fringe players such as themselves would probably have been considered and updates on their conditions are few and far between. Matt Connolly returns from suspension and Tommy Smith is fit to travel. Fitz Hall says he is fit, but Fitz Hall says a lot of things. Burnley are under the guidance of caretaker manager Stuart Gray once again. Team news to follow. Elsewhere: The Championship offers the Saturday lunchtime television game with Swansea meeting Crystal Palace at 12.45. The clash of the day looks like the one at Carrow Rod where in form third placed Norwich meet second placed Cardiff who have had to cope with Craig Bellamy’s latest indiscretions this week – such is the cost of taking on such a flawed talent. Watford host Derby with Nigel Clough clinging to his job after tiny Crawley inflicted an embarrassing FA Cup defeat on the Rams on Monday stretching their winless run to seven. Leeds host Scunthorpe in what should be a banker win despite the Iron’s away form. At the bottom Preston host Leicester, who added Yakubu to their ranks on loan from Everton today. Referee: Premiership referee Chris Foy drops down to the Championship for this fixture. More details on his recent QPR history can be viewed by clicking here. FormBurnley: The Claret’s away form has already been discussed, just one win so far, so it stands to reason that to be maintaining a top ten place their home results must be pretty hot. So far this season they have won eight matches at Turf Moor, Swansea and QPR join them in leading the way with eight successes, but Reading, Leeds and Scunthorpe have all won here and two of those defeats came in their last two home matches culminating in the sacking of Brian Laws. Odds are this won’t be a goalless draw, there have been 45 goals in 13 matches on this ground this season, only Elland Road has seen more and Leeds have Alex Bruce in defence so it’s understandable. QPR: Rangers’ 19 match unbeaten start to the season has since given way to three defeats in six games, not counting last week’s set back at Blackburn in the FA Cup. Away from home they have won five times this season, and were successful at Coventry over Christmas, but they lost 1-0 at Norwich last time out and have therefore won only one of their last seven away games scoring just three goals in the process. The R’s have an outstanding road defence with just eight goals conceded, only Forest with 11 get close in the rest of the league. Prediction: I’m getting a bit tired of tipping draws, but I shall do so again, and a high scoring draw at that. 12/5 the draw with Victor Chandler, Tommy Smith first goal 9/1 with Blue Square Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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