PAUL Jewell’s Wigan Athletic relegated Neil Warnock’s Sheffield United in 2007, and this evening Jewell’s Ipswich Town will be hoping to put a dent in the promotion bid of Warnock’s QPR.

PAUL Jewell’s Wigan Athletic relegated Neil Warnock’s Sheffield United in 2007, and this evening Jewell’s Ipswich Town will be hoping to put a dent in the promotion bid of Warnock’s QPR.

The two men certainly have history, but they also have a deep respect for each other as football managers.

Warnock is looking to return to the Premier League with Rangers, and at the moment that looks a good bet, as Jewell admitted during yesterday’s press conference.

“Neil (Warnock) will definitely tell you that he is a special manager!” said Jewell, with a wry smile.

“I had plenty of dust-ups with Neil, when I was a player (at Bradford) and he was a manager of Huddersfield. Our paths have crossed on loads of occasions. We have had a few run-ins.

“Neil had the opportunity to manage a big club before. He turned down the opportunity to move to Chelsea, when he was manager of Notts County.

“He will see QPR as his best bet to get back into the Premiership.

“At the moment they are looking strong favourites. I am expecting QPR to go up. They’ll never have a better opportunity,” added Jewell.

It was four seasons ago that Jewell’s Wigan needed to beat Warnock’s Sheffield United on the final day of the season, to preserve their Premier League status.

Despite an equalising goal from Jon Stead – who of course was to later play for Ipswich – goals from Paul Scharner and David Unsworth (penalty) secured a 2-1 win for the Latics.

Relegation rivals West Ham shocked Manchester United 1-0 to stay up, and so condemn the Blades to the Championship.

“I remember when Sheffield United got promoted to the Premier League, Neil was on the phone all the time because we were in the Premier League,” recalled Jewell.

“He asked us what wages he should be getting, and what was the best way to survive.

“Ironically, we beat them on the last game of the season to relegate them. It was a great day for us, because if we had lost or drawn then we would have gone down.

“They were expecting Manchester United to beat West Ham, as most people would. As elated as I was, it was still horrible to relegate them,” added Jewell.

QPR have only lost three of their 32 league games this season, and Jewell does not see Warnock’s men slipping up during the run-in.

“People can get twitchy during the last third of the season. But Neil has got a lot of experienced players, so I don’t think the run-in will affect them.”