‘Shock’ now seen as norm for us – Clough

But the Blades’ manager is also adamant that travelling to Loftus Road, where the R’s boast the seventh- best home record in the Premier League, will be a tough assignment.

Clough, who boasts an amazing record in knockout football since taking charge of the League One club, said: “There will be no lack of confidence, but I almost suspect people are expecting us to cause an upset.

“But I can’t stress enough that it would be a huge upset if we were to get a result down there.

“People are thinking we’ll do it again. But it is not always as easy as that and it takes a huge amount of things to go in your favour to get a result.”

As much as Clough is sensibly attempting to temper expectation ahead of taking on a Rangers side who have taken 19 points from 11 home games this term, there can be little doubt that he has developed something of a Midas touch in the Cups as Blades’ manager with 13 wins from 16 ties.

“It might have been a different story if it was at Bramall Lane, but they are a strong side at home,in a tidy, compact stadium,” said Clough. “That said, we play at grounds like that most weeks so, hopefully, it won’t faze us.”