QPRnet.com :: The Pre-Match Warm Up

TEAM NEWS

In the wake of the desperately poor second half against Stoke City on Wednesday Waddock said that he would be making some changes. He has since changed his mind about that and wants to give the players the chance to put it right. Expect to see the same side again except for Sammy Youssouf who went off with a knee problem. Furlong is likely to replace him although an outing for Baidoo is also on the cards.

There are no other injury problems to report aside from the usual suspects. Royce may sit this one out again to save aggravating his bad back further.

Dario Gradi is looking to pick an unchanged side after their narrow midweek defeat at Preston. Last Saturday they battered Coventry 4-1 and they will be hoping to repeat the dose. They have a slight doubt over one time Rangers target Steve Jones who has been ill this week and Eddie Johnson is unlikely to be fit enough to warm the bench.

POSSIBLE TEAM
		Furlong	Nygaard


	Cook	Bircham	Lomas	Ainsworth


	Milanese	Evatt	Shittu	Bignot



		Jones

A QUICK GUIDE TO OUR OPPONENTS

CREWE IN BRIEF

The Railwaymen are stone cold relegated already and have been bottom of the table for an eternity now. Despite the fact that they do try and play the right way they leave themselves wide open and teams can pretty much help themselves. They are a threat in attack though; our 4-3 ding dong with them on New Years Eve shows that. Their fans have even started to grumble about Dario recently as they seem to be fed up with the constant yo-yoing between The Championship and League One.

LAST FIVE GAMES
Date	Versus	Venue	F	A
28/03/06	Preston	Away	0	1
25/03/06	Coventry	Home	4	1
18/03/06	Hull	Away	0	1
11/03/06	Southampton	Home	1	1
03/03/06	Sheff Utd	Away	0	0


TOP SCORERS
Name	FLC	FAC	LC	Total
Billy Jones	6	1	0	7
Luke Rodgers	5	0	0	5
Luke Varney	4	0	0	4

RUBBISH FACT

In October 1995 Crewe beat Hartlepool 8-0 in the Auto Windscreens Shield with eight different goalscorers.

RANGERS VERSUS .....

LAST TIME OUT

Crewe 3 - 4 Queens Park Rangers
Saturday 31st December 2005

“Rowly picked up the ball and when he couldn’t find a pass he decided to have a bash himself. His right footed shot was swerving away from Turnbull and in truth he did well to get a hand to it. The placement was perfect though and the ball slammed into the top corner.”

LEAGUE STANDINGS
Pos	Team	P	GD	Pts
14th	QPR	40	-10	49
24th	Crewe	40	-33	31


HEAD TO HEAD
Played	QPR	Crewe	Draws
18	10	6	2

OTHER MEETINGS

Crewe have a pretty decent record at Loftus Road and took all three points when they visited us last season. Back in the 2002/03 season we had to watch as a combination of Dario’s snidey tactics and Andy Hall’s crass incompetence saw them draw and gain promotion against nine man Rangers. Crewe were also the recipients of an 8-1 humping at the hands of Rangers in the League Cup back in 1983.

GENERAL INFORMATION

THE REFEREE

For the second game in a row we have a ref taking charge of one of our games for the third time this season. The man in question this time is Steve Tanner and our record with him has been mixed. He took charge of the excellent home win against Sheffield United but was also in charge as we lost 3-1 at Plymouth. In that match he went card crazy and took twelve players names, including no less than nine from Rangers! So far this season he has managed to dish out 119 yellows and 9 reds in just 30 games although our game won’t have helped matters much.

THE REF RECORD
Season	Games	Yellows	Reds
2005-06	30	119	9
2004-05	33	91	9
2003-04	28	107	10


OPPONENTS LINKS
Official Website	CreweAlex.net
Fans Website	CreweAlex.co.uk

QPR CONNECTIONS

Gareth Taylor spent a short period on loan at Rangers from Manchester City back in 2000. He started two games and came off the bench another four times. His solitary goal came against Charlton in a 2-1 defeat at The Valley. He is now on loan at Crewe from Forest and has notched twice in his ten appearances to date. Crewe are Gareth’s ninth professional club and he only needs two more goals to reach a century in league games.

RON AND SIMON'S PREDICT-OFF

RON: After being roundly booed off on Wednesday night the crowd will expect a response from the players and the noises coming out of Loftus Road suggest that should be the case. Crewe are rock bottom and going down and this is exactly the sort of game we should win with ease. Of course things aren't always that simple for Rangers but I hope we win and win well. 3-0 to Rangers.

SIMON: After the shocking capitulation the other night Waddock will be demanding a response from his players. The fans will be demanding someone’s head on a pole if that display is even vaguely repeated against the worst side in the league. If we can get the ball on the deck and shift it quickly then we should win this one, if we resort to hoofball then we may come unstuck. Waddo is likely to name a very similar line up to provoke a response and I think he will get one. 2-0 Rangers.

Current score: Ron 22 Simon 28