Sheff Utd Preview
By: Richard Hubbert
Date: 16/09/2002
NOW Town have eventually scored some goals away from home, expectations are that little bit higher. The Mariners cannot afford to simply rely on home games for wins, so a winning start away and not at home would be a welcome surprise.
Recent Form
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Town | Sheff Utd |
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W | Rotherham | (h) | 1-0 |
W | York | (h) | 1-0 |
W | Norwich | (a) | 3-2 |
L | Sheff Wed | (a) | 0-2 |
W | Millwall | (h) | 3-1 |
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Players To Watch
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Town | Sheff Utd |
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Paul Robinson
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Stuart McCall
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The lively 23 year old is on a three month loan from Wimbledon and is starting to form a promising partnership with fellow loanee Steve Kabba up front. The Northern born forward joined the Mariners on deadline day last season and rejoined them in time for their first game at Norwich. Looking to resurrect his career after an unsuccessful spell at Wimbledon, Robinson is now starting to establish himself at Town and will no doubnt be looking to earn a permanent contract.
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Needless to say that the experienced Scotsman knows a bit about football. But still, even at the age of 38, he is an extremely worthy and talented member of any first division club. After returning to England in 1998 with Bradford City, McCall earned promotion to the Premier division and has enjoyed a successful spell since then. Neil Warnock took advantage of Bradford’s financial problems in the summer and signed McCall on as a player/coach and has been influential in the Blades’ good start to the season.
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Top Scorers
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Town | Sheff Utd |
Barnard 1
Kabba 1
Pouton 1
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Asaba 3
Ndlovu 3
Tonge 2
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Team News
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Town | Sheff Utd |
Tony Gallimore is likely to miss out with injury after coming off in Town’s 3-2 defeat at Coventry. Darren Barnard will deputise with Terry Cooke recalled and Stuart Campbell swapping flanks.
Alternatively, Simon Ford who came on and did a good job at left back at Highfield Road, could play there.
Elsewhere, the Mariners will be unchanged with no fresh injury worries or any players returning from injury.
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Iffy Onoura has ruptured his achilles after an injury 22 minutes into his sides 1-0 win over Rotherham. Inititally, it was though that he would be out for six months but surgery has revealed he might only be out for three months.
This means that Neil Warnock will have to decide between Paul Peschisolido, Peter Ndlovu, Wayne Allison or Laurens Ten Heuvel up front.
Phil Jagielka has a bruised foot and may make way for Robert Page who missed Saturday’s game through injury. He will partner Shaun Murphy at the back of the Blades defence. Steve Yates is still out, leaving United with little defensive cover, hence the fact that midfielder Jagielka had to play at the back on Saturday.
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Probable Starting XI's
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Town | Sheff Utd |
Danny Coyne |
John McDermott (c) |
Steve Chettle |
Simon Ford |
Paul Groves |
Darren Barnard |
Alan Pouton |
Stuart Campbell |
Stacy Coldicott |
Paul Robinson |
Steve Kabba |
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Paddy Kenny |
Rob Kozluk |
Robert Ullathorne |
Robert Page |
Shaun Murphy |
Michael Brown |
Stuart McCall |
John Paul McGovern |
Michael Tonge |
Carl Asaba |
Paul Peschisolido |
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Subs
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Town | Sheff Utd |
Terry Cooke |
Darren Mansaram |
Jonny Rowan |
Iain Ward |
Shaun Allaway (GK) |
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Peter Ndlovu |
Nick Montgomery |
Wayne Allison |
Colin Cryan |
Phil Jageleika |
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Last Time Out
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The two sides last met in February, a game which started the "Great escape" of last season. It also saw the birth of the Allen/Boulding partnership, a pairing up front that transformed the Mariners. A loss in this game would have surely sunk the Mariners who were already seven points adrift at the bottom of the first division. However, a Stuart Campbell header from a deflected Danny Butterfield cross was enough to steal all three points for the Mariners and get their season rolling again.
Town Team: Coyne, McDermott, Groves, Raven (Ford), Gallimore, Campbell, Burnett, Coldicott, Butterfield, Allen, Boulding.
Subs (not used): Jevons, Jeffrey, Willems and Croudson
Attendance: 7,141 Report
Sheff Utd Head-to-Head
(94th on The Opposition Ladder).
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Prediction
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Directions
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Click on the link for directions to Bramall Lane (left).
Click on the link for the ticket prices at Bramall Lane.
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