Sheffield United vs QPR early team news with 3 doubts and 3 outs of difficult R's away day

QPR face Sheffield United this weekend.QPR face Sheffield United this weekend.
QPR face Sheffield United this weekend. | Getty Images
The R’s travel to Bramall Lane as they look to get their first Championship points on the board this season.

QPR will look to take midweek Carabao Cup success into the Championship this weekend as they make the tricky visit to Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon.

The R's fell to a 3-1 defeat against West Brom in their opening match of the second tier campaign and it doesn't look set to get any easier against the Blades, who beat Preston North End last time out in the division.

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LondonWorld looks at some early team news for Sheffield United vs QPR.

Sheffield United team news

Sheffield United fielded a younger team as they beat Wrexham in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night. Chris Wilder said that Alfie Gilchrist was 'blowing' after 70 minutes against Preston North End last time out, but the 20-year-old Chelsea loanee came off the bench midweek so that clearly isn’t a serious worry.

Femi Seriki started the game against Wrexham but was taken off with what the manager described as a 'groin tweak'. The defender is expected to be fit for the QPR clash but is a concern.

Rhys Norrington-Davies returned to the bench against Wrexham after his recent injury woes and appears to be fit again.

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Kieffer Moore, who has a knock, signed from AFC Bournemouth this summer and played against Preston North End, but was absent from the squad midweek. Sam McCallum has a hamstring injury and Jamie Shackleton a knee injury and are expected to miss out.

QPR team news

QPR made hard work of holding onto a 2-0 lead against League One opposition Cambridge United on Tuesday night but came through the 90 minutes of cup action unscathed.

Cifuentes made six changes ahead of that fixture and used five substitutes as he rotated his squad with matches already coming thick and fast. He explained to the club website: “It was important for us to give opportunities to other players, it was important as well for some players to get minutes as well and add some fresh legs. At this moment in the season it is important that everybody gets involved and we have some rotation in the team.

“In that sense I am satisfied but I am not happy with the way we performed in the second half. We needed to be more clinical. We had the chances to score the third goal but it was not just that, also our press was not as connected as we would like.”

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Ilias Chair is yet to play this season.Ilias Chair is yet to play this season.
Ilias Chair is yet to play this season. | Getty Images

The main injury concern for the visit to Sheffield United therefore comes in the ever-influential Ilias Chair. The Morocco international missed out of the squad for West Brom and Cambridge United having been absent from pre-season action against Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton and Reading.

That is believed to be due to an issue with his back. Speaking after the defeat to Spurs, Cifuentes said: “Illy had a bit of discomfort in his back yesterday after training."

Lyndon Dykes had been nursing an ankle injury and was a doubt ahead of West Brom last week. However, the Scotland international did make the bench for the Championship opener and got his first minutes of the campaign against Cambridge United from the bench.

Defender Morgan Fox is another likely absentee. He hasn't featured in the matchday squad yet this season and is another one carrying an injury problem from pre-season preparations.

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