Sheffield United boss Kevin Blackwell refuses to be daunted by some high profile clashes at the start of the new Championship season.The Blades travel to relegated Birmingham on the opening day of the 2008/9 campaign and then take on mega-rich Londoners QPR in their opening home match.

Blackwell told the club's official website: "You only have to look at the first five fixtures to see what an exciting Championship this is.

"They include Birmingham and Derby who have just come down, QPR who could be favourites and Cardiff who were Cup finalists a few weeks ago.

"Two of those fixtures would have been Premiership games last year and QPR have the potential to be the division's biggest spenders.

"But we are Sheffield United and we are confident on two fronts - we can beat anyone at Bramall Lane and the way we ended last term convinces us that our squad will take some beating."

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