CARLING CUP PREVIEW: ROCHDALE Posted on: Tue 23 Aug 2011 Neil Warnock is set to ring the changes when Rochdale head to town in the Carling Cup tonight (Tuesday). The R's gaffer will shuffle his pack for the visit of the League One side, with wholesale changes expected following Saturday's magnificent 1-0 victory over Everton at Goodison Park. Dale, meanwhile, will be hoping the Cup acts as a nice distraction away from the bread and butter of League One. Steve Eyre's side have registered just two points from a possible 12 so far, with Saturday's 2-0 defeat against Oldham Athletic further hampering their progress. Rochdale Team News: Likely starting XI ... Lucas Darby - Balkestein - Holness - Widdowson Thompson - Jones - Tutte - Adams Akpa Akpro - Grimes Player to Watch ... Ashley Grimes (Attacker) One of Steve Eyre's early acquisitions when arriving at Spotland, former Manchester City striker Ashley Grimes has started the season in fine form since departing Eastlands for pastures new. Scoring three goals in Dales' opening four games, including a brace against last year's League Two Champions Chesterfield in round one, Grimes has hit the ground running so far this term. Formally a Manchester City trainee, the 24 year old is once again reunited with former coach Steve Eyre, who he expressed as the main reason for his move to Rochdale, commenting: "I had interest from plenty of Clubs but when I knew Rochdale and Steve were interested it was a move I simply couldn't refuse." The Numbers Game: *3 - Number of years *9 - Dale's final placing in League One last term *17 - The amount of goals Gary Jones scored last season for Rochdale in League One *10, 199 - Capacity of the Spotland Stadium *1962 - The last time Dale picked up silverware Pre-Match Talk: *Neil Warnock - "It's fair to say the Carling Cup isn't a top priority for us this season. "It gives me the opportunity to look at one or two players who are on the fringes, as well as giving one or two others some much-needed game time under their belts to improve their match fitness." *Steve Eyre - "We're really looking forward to it. "It's not every day you get to pit your wits against a Premier League Club. "There's a little bit of the unknown about it in terms of what side Neil will send out on to the pitch, but we can't wait to go to Loftus Road." Match Odds with Coral: QPR: 4/9 Draw: 7/2 Rochdale: 11/2 Last Away Meeting: Division Three: QPR 3-0 Rochdale, Monday 20th April 1959. Match Officials: Referee - Mr O Langford Assistants - Mr W Atkin & Mr G Russell 4th Official - Mr L Collins Match Coverage: A new season brings about new ideas from our press team on how to improve the service that we provide on www.qpr.co.uk on a matchday. With that, we'll now be providing minute-by-minute updates from every First Team fixture involving the R's - from simple action updates to what's happening in and around the ground - in addition to an in-depth match report at full-time. QPR Player will be providing live match commentary of Tuesday's evening Carling Cup tie against Rochdale, as well as offering extended highlights and the gaffer's post-match reaction. Click here to sign up to QPR Player. Carling Cup Second Round Draw: Millwall v Morecambe Blackburn v Sheffield Wednesday Bury v Leicester West Ham / Aldershot v Carlisle Bournemouth v West Bromwich Albion Crystal Palace / Crawley v Wigan Peterborough v Middlesbrough Aston Villa v Hereford Bristol City / Swindon v Southampton Exeter v Liverpool Everton v Sheffield United Brighton v Sunderland Shrewsbury v Swansea Reading / Charlton v Preston Norwich v Milton Keynes Dons Northampton v Wolves Wycombe v Nottingham Forest Bolton v Macclesfield Burnley v Barnet Scunthorpe v Newcastle Leyton Orient v Watford / Bristol Rovers Doncaster v Leeds Cardiff v Huddersfield QPR v Rochdale Next QPR Fixture: Saturday 27th August 2011: Wigan Athletic v QPR (12.30pm) iReader
QPR v Rochdale preview Hoops will put Premier League survival ahead of cup glory By Soriebah Kajue Last updated: 23rd August 2011 Neil Warnock is expected to rest several of his first-team players ahead of Queens Park Rangers' Carling Cup second round clash against Rochdale. The Hoops claimed their first win in the top-flight in 15 years at the weekend by beating Everton 1-0 and their priority this term will be maintaining their place amongst English football's elite. Steve Eyre is yet to earn a win as Rochdale manager this season but a chance to bloody the noses of the illustrious opposition is something he will no doubt rouse his troops for. Strikers DJ Campbell and Jay Bothroyd will be unavailable for QPR after they were both ill over the weekend. Suspension Full-back Clint Hill will miss the game through suspension and Brazilian centre-back Bruno Perone is in line for his Rangers debut, while Kaspars Gorkss is expected to be handed his first start of the season. Midfielder Petter Vaagen Moen could deputise for Adel Taarabt, while Rob Hulse is absent with a knee injury and Kieron Dyer (ankle) is likely to be out for another two weeks. Dale boss Eyre will hand Dutchman Pim Balkestein his first start as he is set to replace the suspended Neal Trotman. Other than the omission of Trotman, Eyre will have a full complement of players to select from for this glamour tie. Ashley Grimes will undoubtedly be the man that Dale fans will look to for goals to inspire them to a cup upset. He has already scored three goals this term, two of which came in this competition against Chesterfield. iReader
"The illustrious opposition" Yeah, that's right,that's who we are. May all who come before us in our quest for premiership survival remember that, and go easy on us.
Cook, Rowlands and ****tu in the starting line-up should get the crowd going! Adel and Jay as well, strong line-up. Should be fun
Line up for tonight on the offish: http://www.qpr.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10373~2429612,00.html Taarabt plays which is good, needs fitness.
Cook and Rowlands in. Someone's listening to us! Interesting choices. Wonder what team shape will be...
