Harry Redknapp brings his QPR side to St Andrew’s today looking to arrest a slump which has seen his side fall away from the automatic promotion places against Lee Clark’s men who haven’t won a home league game since the start of October. QPR QPR lie fourth in the Championship on 57 points, somewhat surprisingly bearing in mind the squad at their disposal nine points off the automatic spots. This is partly due to a run which has seen them winless since the end of January, picking up just two points from five games following a run of four successive league wins. Niko Kranjcar faces a late fitness test along with Gary O’Neill, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Armand Traore but Joey Barton returns following a five game ban. Blues Blues will have an issue with the left back slot after Mitch Hancox was ruled out for pretty much the remainder of the season with an ankle problem. With David Murphy having retired due to injury earlier in the week and Amari’i Bell having gone on loan to Kidderminster Harriers, it leaves Manchester United loanee Tyler Blackett and captain Paul Robinson as the choices for the spot although forgotten man Shane Ferguson could slot in if needed. Brian Howard also misses out due to an ankle problem while Lee Novak and Albert Rusnak both face late fitness tests. With eight players having been away on international duty Clark is going to need to carefully assess his squad for what will be a tough test. I’m not hopeful of more than a point from this one but QPR are in a slump; Blues need to shake off the home jitters and get into Redknapp’s side from the off. I’m hoping that the noise that is anticipated after the conviction and sentencing of Carson Yeung along with the giant flag will get the fans going and that increased noise will translate to a better performance on the pitch.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 13:32:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015