Irvine braced for hostile reception

10 May 2009 14:51
Bramall Lane is renowned for its intimidating atmosphere and around 30,000 supporters will pack the stadium out for the visit of Irvine's men. The tie is finely poised after the 1-1 draw at Deepdale on Friday but United look favourites to progress given their home advantage and a vociferous support behind them. "I would expect it to be a very hostile atmosphere," said Irvine. "But when you are a footballer you have got to love playing in that. "It's a lot worse if it's home and your own fans are being hostile towards you. "But you can always cope with the opposition fans having a go at you. "I think our players will relish the opportunity to play at Bramall Lane and the ones who get picked will be the lucky ones." Preston goalkeeper Andy Lonergan, who made a number of outstanding saves to restrict United to one goal on Friday, insists his side will head to Sheffield with no pressure on their shoulders. "We've always been underdogs," he said of his hometown club, who have been out of the top flight since 1961. "Nobody talks about us on television or in the papers - it's all Reading, Sheffield United and Burnley. "Hopefully we will make people stand up and talk about us on Monday." United manager Kevin Blackwell will assess the fitness of Darius Henderson, John-Joe O'Toole, Jamie Ward and David Cotterill and all four players could miss the game through injury. Blackwell presided over Leeds' pitiful surrender against Watford in the Championship play-off final when his side were thumped 3-0 at the Millennium Stadium. "Anyone thinking our progression is a formality doesn't know play-off football," he said. "It will be a completely different entity on Monday and anything can happen in the blink of an eye to settle it one way or the other - a great piece of skill, a mistake, or a decision maybe."

Source: Team_Talk