Top of the table Leicester v promotion chasing QPR is a big appointment for referee Scott Duncan in just his third full season on the league list.
Referee >>> Scott Duncan (Northumberland)
Assistants >>> David Avent (Northants) and Mark Pottage (Dorset)
Fourth Official >>> Keith Stroud (Hampshire), experienced Football League referee who took charge of QPR’s Boxing Day game at Nottingham Forest.
This is Duncan’s first ever QPR appointment.
So far this season Duncan has refereed 33 games showing 79 yellows and just two reds. That total was boosted significantly by seven yellows and a red shown in Nottingham Forest’s eventful 3-3 draw with Sheffield Wednesday last week, his biggest haul of the season so far, but his 2.39 yellows a game average is low an he’s shown one card or less on 13 occasions so far. He’s refereed Leicester once already — a 2-2 draw at Blackpool in September where the Foxes scored a penalty after 71 minutes only to concede once themselves in injury time.
Last season he showed 87 yellows and eight reds in 35 games.
Premier League >>> Howard Webb has Cardiff v Stoke this weekend and, bizarrely, Stevenage Borough Ladies v QPR Ladies on April 30 at Broadhall Way to commemorate the amalgamation of the men’s and ladies’ teams at Stevenage.
Championship >>> Premier League referee Michael Oliver drops down for the Blackpool v Burnley north-off. Michael Jones does likewise for Forest v Birmingham.
League One >>> Gavin Ward has Shrewsbury v Crewe before arriving at QPR v Watford as fourth official.
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