Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

A truncated match preview for this one I'm afraid - the demands lof the Championship fixture list are too much for me. Below is the team news and what will very likely be (on the evidence of recent games) a hopelessly inaccurate prediction from me.

QPR can be thankful of one fact tonight; their opponents can't play Heidar Helguson, the man Rangers loaned to Watford halfway through September. Since then, Helguson has shown that, for him, there is no home like Watford, with five goals in just six games. Considering the flakiness of the QPR backline at the moment and the 'old club' rule, Helguson would have been nailed on to score tonight but the terms of his loan demand that he sits this one out.

Another loanee signing for Watford who has made an impact this season, Henri Lansbury, could miss out with a hip injury. Defender Jay DeMerit should be available though.


Jim Magilton will probably ring the changes following Saturday's debacle though he could be lacking for options in certain positions. Loan signing Steven Reid will miss out with a hamstring injury so the manager can't make too many changes in central midfield. Likewise at the back, Matt Connolly is unavailable with a pelvic injury. Damion Stewart could be brought into the centre of the back four though and Peter Ramage deserves a game at right-back.


QPR could do with an easy ride after the embarrasing mauling they recieved from Middlesbrough, but they're unlikely to get it tonight. Watford have won their last three home games at a canter - 4-1 against Sheffield Wednesday, 2-0 against Preston and 3-0 against Scunthorpe.

They have a decent record against Rangers in recent years as well, winning five of the last six games at Vicarage Road.


The unfettered optimism I've shown in recent predictions has to be tempered now. QPR have gone from playing well and dropping points to just outright playing badly. The absence of Helguson will affect Watford and give the visitors renewed confidence. But in the context of recent games, a point from this away game will be more than respectable for the travelling R's and it's what I fully expect to happen.

SCORE DRAW