It seems like an age since Rangers last game but the mid season break gave the players a training camp in Portugal and the chance to get a few players back from injury. Unfortunately for Rangers the break also saw Sheffield United get a new manager in who is not a complete idiot which meant a tough afternoon for De Canio's men.

The Rangers manager made a few changes to the side that lost to Burnley a few weeks ago. Fitz Hall and Michael Mancienne recovered from injury to replace Rehmann and Stewart who dropped to the bench. Akos Buzsacky missed out through suspension which meant a full home debut for Angelo Balanta on the left wing. Gavin Mahon was also missing which meant a start for Mikele Leigterwood against his former club.

The visitors set their stall out from the start and were quick and fierce in the tackle and looked to play direct to Beattie up front. Blackwell clearly had his side fired up and well organised but they posed little threat during the early exchanges.

It was Rangers who had the first real chance after winning a corner on the left. With Buzsacky not playing it was down to Ephraim to take the corners and he put in a nice ball to the far post when Leigterwood met the ball with a header which was wide of the post and he really should have hit the target.

Rowan Vine was dropping deep and linking well with Rowlands and Balanta and he came close to opening the scoring on fifteen minutes. Agyemang received a ball from Mancienne and found Ephraim who in turn fed Vine and after creating some space for himself his shot from distance was just off target.

It was a nice passing move and a similar move broke the deadlock. Vine and Rowlands were involved again and spreads the ball wide to Ephraim on the right who knocked the ball past two defenders and whipped in a dangerous cross into the six yard box where Balanta was on hand to knock the ball past the keeper. It was Balanta's first goal for QPR and it was great to see a youngster come in and grab his chance like this.

The goal should have spurred us on to better things but the game became very scrappy after that with Sheffield United looking to knock long balls up to Beattie but the impressive Hall and Connolly were equal to everything thrown at them.
Rangers best attacks were coming through Ephraim on the right but in the middle Sheffield United were doubling up on Agyemang and making it very difficult for him to get any space or any chances. The one time he did get free he made a great run from the half way line for Vine to pick out but the pass was a poor one and easily cut out.

We were having plenty of the ball but were giving it away too cheaply with Rowlands and Leigterwood both not at their best in midfield. Sheffield united began to create a few chances but most of them came from distance with the defence working well to deny any space in the box.

Lee Camp was called into action and made an excellent diving save from James Beattie. Camp was having a confident display in goal and was quick off his line to claim the ball at corners which had looked Sheffield United's best way of getting back into the game. Beattie was beginning to get frustrated and had a kick out at Fitz Hall at a corner but neither the linesmen nor referee spotted the incident.

Rowlands had a half chance after a nice build up to extend the lead but his shot curled over the bar. There were chances too for Balanta and Ephraim after good build ups but both were off target.

The final five minutes of the half saw us look a little nervous with the last first half goal against Burnley probably in the players' minds. We took an age over throw ins and got a little sloppy with the ball and looked pretty relieved when the half time whistle went despite Sheffield United, with all their hard work and organisation, not really looking a goal threat.

The second half proved to be one of frustration though as we struggled to get our passing game going and the game became very scrappy. United continued the tactic of trying to hit long balls to Beattie but Fitz Hall was defending well and made one excellent interception in his own box as Sharp looked to be getting clear.

Rangers got into a few good positions but couldn't find the final pass to create a chance. Ephraim did well on the right getting a few low crosses in but they were all cleared and a fine run by Vine saw him break into the box but rather than roll it to the unmarked Ephraim he tried to take on one more player and lost the ball.

It was becoming frustrating and De Canio made a change to try and get us the second goal with Blackstock replacing Balanta and Vine moved to the wing. Blackstock was full of running when he came on closing down the back four of Sheffield united and looking desperate to impress but chances were now hard to come by.

Kevin Blackwell made two changes taking and his side scored within a minute of the changes. A free kick into the box was half cleared as far as Chris Morgan and the big central defender hit a shot on the turn which took a deflection and beat Lee Camp to level the scores.

The last ten minutes proved to be pretty tense for Rangers as the visitors got the ball forward quickly and caused a few panics. They won a few corners but Camp and the Rangers defence stood firm and cleared the danger.
Rangers also pressed for a winner but despite winning a few corners we didn't really threaten the goal and in the end both sides seemed happy with the point.

This wasn't the best of games to watch a draw was probably the right result.

Sheffield Untied were well organised and closed us down well. I thought they were always in the game and looked a threat from set pieces whilst we looked impressive when we did get the ball down and play. For too much of the game though it was very scrappy and we went a little too direct at times which meant the front two didn't get a great deal of service.

When we did get a bit of time on the ball we looked a good side and the goal was a lovely move down the right. We had plenty of the ball in the second half but the final ball was not the best and Vine was a little greedy at times looking to take on another player rather than release the ball to a player in a better position.

Personally I thought the bench was a bit negative with 3 defenders. I'd have liked to see Ainsworth on for the last 20 minutes when the
game and the crowd was very flat he might have injected that last bit of life into us to get the win. No complaints though really, we can and will play better and it's still miles better than we looked a few months ago.

One negative was to hear a few fans moaning at Agyemang. In the last game he was being praised for the way he was clever and only did his running when he had to in dangerous areas but now he's a lazy bastard. Agyemang wasn't helped by the fact we didn't create a single chance for him and Kevin Blackwell had done his homework on Agyemang and put two defenders on him whenever he got the ball which made it difficult for him to find any space. Still eight goals in nine starts is not exactly a bad way to start his QPR career.

This draw probably brings to an end any faint hopes of the playoffs for us but when you consider we were four points adrift of safety before Christmas, it's a relief to see us six points clear now and in a good position to push clear of trouble and secure a mid table position. Rangers face Barnsley away next which will be a tough game for us but one we are quite capable of winning.