Barnsley vs QPR Preview

-
QPR travel to Barnsley tonight, obviously hoping that Barnsley's forthcoming FA Cup tie with Chelsea distracts them from the Championship. Barnsley have Danny Nardiello on loan from QPR, but he is not eligible to play agains QPR. QPR and Barnsley both have 40 points from 33 games. On Saturday, Barnsley lost 1-0 to Norwich (Jamie Cureton) Barnsley's home record is 9 wins 5 draws and 2 defeats. Scored 27; conceded 20. (QPR's away record is 4 wins, 5 draws, 7 defeats. Scored 23; conceded 30 .... Table - Barnsley's results this season. Barnsley's Squad
Results of recent Barnsley vs QPR games - Barnsley vs QPR
Five weeks ago, QPR beat Barnsley 2-0 at Loftus Road, with goals from Agyemang and Vine. Teams that day: QPR: Camp, Delaney, Stewart (Lee 84), Blackstock (Ephraim 89), Buzsaky, Rowlands, Connolly, Agyemang, Vine, Hall (Mancienne 80), Leigertwood.
Subs: Crowther, Balanta. Scorers: Agyemang 5, Vine 45
Barnsley: Muller, Hassell, Howard, Foster, Souza, Campbell-Ryce, Van Homoet, Coulson (Ferenczi 55), Devaney (Ricketts 71), Leon (Odejayi 55), Tininho.

UPDATE: QPR OFFICIAL SITE - MATCHDAY PREVIEW: TYKES
Barnsley fans could be forgiven for forgetting about the Coca Cola Championship campaign altogether over the coming weeks.

Hot on the heels of their stunning FA Cup victory against Liverpool at Anfield, the Tykes were handed a plum home tie against Chelsea in the quarter-final draw.

Yet while the visit of Avram Grant's billionaires will be at the fore-front of their thoughts in the weeks ahead, it's the bread and butter of the second tier that will take centre stage tonight, as the R's make the long trip to Oakwell for their rearranged fixture in Yorkshire.

Rangers were comfortable 2-0 victors when the two sides met at Loftus Road just five weeks ago.

First-half strikes from Patrick Agyemang and Rowan Vine secured a comfortable victory for the R's. Agyemang latched on to Dexter Blackstock's neat pass to head home from six yards early on, before Vine doubled the R's advantage from Agyemang's inviting cross in the closing stages of the first half.

It was a result which left R's gaffer Luigi De Canio purring with delight: "The new players are really starting to gel," he said.

"I strive for perfection and I wanted us to finish Barnsley off in the second half and that didn't happen.

"I'm really happy though, because we're moving forward as a group."

The statistics don't favour the R's at Oakwell though.

Indeed, the last time Rangers won on their travels against the Reds was during the 1996/97 campaign.

Goals from Simon Barker, Mark Perry and Daniele Dichio sealed a 3-1 win 11 years ago, but thereafter, the R's record reads played six, drawn two, lost four, including last season's disappointing 2-0 defeat at Oakwell.

Rangers could welcome Gavin Mahon (knee) back to the fold after the midfielder failed a late fitness test on Saturday afternoon.

Fellow midfielder Akos Buzsaky is likely to return following a one-match suspension, while Chris Barker is available again following his successful hernia operation.

Barnsley will be minus the services of midfielder Anderson De Silva, who sustained a knee injury in Saturday's defeat at Norwich, but Jon Macken, Lewin Nyatanga and Kayode Odejayi could all return. QPR

Yorkshire Post - Points needed to calm Tykes' nerves
SUPPORTERS may already be dreaming about a repeat of Barnsley's FA Cup heroics when Chelsea come to town a week on Saturday with a trip to Wembley the prize at stake.
But if Simon Davey's side are not careful, by the time the Cup holders make the trip north, the Yorkshire club could be deep in the relegation mire.

It is a point not lost on assistant manager Ryan Kidd with the Tykes, who host QPR tonight and then Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, occupying their joint-lowest position since early September, six points clear of the bottom three.

The Barnsley assistant said: "We do not want to slip any further in the league. We have two big home games coming up this week and, hopefully, we can go out and get six points.

"It will make things look a lot better and we could be in 10th or 11th place with those points. That is our focus and what we are determined to do."

A huge factor in Barnsley's favour ahead of such a potentially season-defining five days is their home form, only two clubs – Coventry City on the opening day and Norwich City last month – having left Oakwell with three points.

It is away from home that Davey's men have struggled with the weekend defeat at Norwich being their 10th defeat in the last 12 games away from home. Only two of those have been drawn – against tonight's opponents at Loftus Road and Scunthorpe United on New Year's Day – so Barnsley will, at least, be boosted by the upcoming double-header being at home.

Anderson De Silva is definitely out tonight so there will have to be at least one change for the visit of QPR with Kidd predicting a tough encounter.

The Tykes assistant manager added: "We know that we will have a very difficult night coming up against QPR. They are a big strong side and their strikers are bang in form at the moment.

"They will make it difficult for us, but we have nothing to fear from anyone here at Oakwell. We can just go out and play our game and, hopefully, that will be enough to get the points."

Rangers are level on points with Barnsley in the table, but their results have improved markedly since the club spent heavily in the January transfer window.

Last six games: Barnsley WLWLWL, QPR WLWWLD.

Referee: E Ilderton (Tyne & Wear).

Last time: Barnsley 2 QPR 0; January 30, 2007; Championship. Yorkshire Post


Barnsley Official Site
WE HAVE TWO BIG HOME GAMES COMING UP THIS WEEK AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN GO OUT AND GET SIX POINTS - RYAN
REDS assistant manager Ryan Kidd gave his thoughts ahead of the clash with QPR.
Ryan said: "We are not too sure what went wrong at Norwich last weekend. When we looked at the Norwich side we thought that we had a great chance to get three points. We had a selection dilemma but decided to keep the same team that did so well at Anfield as we thought that was the right choice.
"We were probably the better team but we did not have a cutting edge. We did not deserve to lose the game but I felt that we did not do enough to win it. We were a yard short in every department and that was disappointing.
"There were three points up for grabs and we did not take that chance. We did not do enough to win and I thought it was just a half decent display. It was not good enough to win.
"We worked with the players and told them to focus. We knew that there would be a lot of things going off on Monday but we were right back at it on Tuesday morning. We did our best to prepare them right for the game. We did ok but we were very disappointed to lose.
"We do not want to slip any further in the league. We have two big home games coming up this week and hopefully we can go out and get six points. It will make things look a lot better and we could be in tenth or eleven place with those points. That is our focus and what we are determined to do.
"We know that we will have a very difficult game coming up against QPR. They are a big strong side and their strikers are bang in form at the moment. They will make it difficult for us but we have nothing to fear from anyone here at Oakwell. We can just go out and play our game and hopefully that will be enough to get the points.
"We do not know the extent of Anderson's injury at the moment and he will be going for a scan tomorrow. It could be a week or it could be six so we will have to wait and see. We have to plan to be without him on Tuesday. It is a blow but we have to get on with it. The lads were buoyant in training this morning and hopefully we can go and get the right result.
"We will definitely be without Anderson tomorrow and we could shake things up a bit. There could be one or two changes for the game".
Barnsley