Sheffield United hope to stop the rot when they travel to the capital tomorrow to face Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road (kick-off: 3:00pm).
Chris Wilder certainly has his work cut out if he plans to better last season’s 10th place finish in the Championship. They may have lost to a side who competed in the Premier League last season (Swansea) and to a side which came close to returning to the Premier League (Middlesbrough) but defeats are defeats and performances aside, it’s points that the Blades need on the table.
Maybe we are being a little harsh but it was disheartening that United failed to bring in any new players at the close of business on yesterday’s transfer deadline day. It isn’t the end as clubs can exploit this by signing loan players until January and agreeing to sign permanently when the window re-opens.
As a result of such ‘exploits’ United lost midfielder Lee Evans in a bizarre move. Despite being a regular player in the starting XI, and only joined the club last January, he opted for a loan move to Wigan Athletic – and will join permanently in the next window.
With Evans no longer apart of Chris Wilder’s squad selection, Mark Duffy could be handed his first start of the campaign or Kean Bryan could make his debut since he completed a free transfer move from Manchester City last week.
With the exception of midfielder Paul Coutts recovery and defender Jake Wright out of action, the Blades have no fresh injuries to be concerned about.
QPR boss Steve McClaren will take charge of his first home Hoops game when they host Sheffield United. They too will be looking for their first victory after suffering a 1-0 loss on the opening day of the season at Preston North End.
Off field issues has led to the Loftus Road club undergoing a transfer embargo and hit with a £42million agreed fine, to be paid back over a period of time, after breaking financial fair play rules. The London club haven’t been able to bring in any new players for a fee.
Despite being in a transfer embargo, clubs are still allowed to sign free transfers and their only summer signing was Toni Leister from German side Union Berlin.
The hosts have no fresh injury concerns either but do not know when Darnell Furlong will return from his knee injury. His father Paul once enjoyed a loan spell with the Blades and as I recall he scored twice on his debut against Portsmouth.
With two losses and little incoming players, how do you think United will perform at QPR tomorrow and what will be the final score?