Sheffield United 1-0 QPR: FLW report as pressure continues to build on Warburton

Queens Park Rangers fell further off the pace of the Championship’s play-off race, losing 1-0 to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. 

Pressure is continuing to intensify on Mark Warburton amid a poor run of form that’s seen QPR lose four on the bounce and six of the last seven.

Tonight, they were beaten by Oliver Norwood’s early strike and finished the evening five points adrift of Paul Heckingbottom’s side.

Given the run QPR were on heading into the fixture, Warburton will have been hoping to frustrate a Sheffield United outfit whose results have threatened to become a touch inconsistent either side of the international break.

As it was, they were frustratingly undone by a corner routine straight from the training ground as George Baldock stepped over John Fleck’s delivery, allowing Norwood to finish from the edge of the penalty area via a deflection.

Keiren Westwood will have been disappointed with his efforts to stop Norwood’s shot and thankful when Oli McBurnie couldn’t generate power on his free header shortly afterwards.

Warburton got something of a response heading into half-time but, agonisingly, not enough, as a cross from the left slipped off the top of Jeff Hendrick’s head.

Ilias Chair had The R’s first meaningful shot of the game after the break, yet Sheffield United had chances either side of that as John Egan stretched and Morgan Gibbs-White tried to lob Westwood.

It was credit to Warburton that his substitutes proceeded QPR’s best spell of the game heading into the final quarter. Lyndon Dykes bludgeoned a shot at Wes Foderingham’s near post and Chair clipped a free-kick into the wall, but nothing substantial presented itself.

Gibbs-White went close to doubling the lead, as Heckingbottom watched his side play