Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

It didn't look good on Saturday when Martin Rowlands hobbled from the pitch but the latest news is that the ankle injury he suffered isn't serious. He will definitely miss tonight's game and no return date has been set yet, but it will be a matter of weeks over months and could be as soon as this weekend when QPR travel to Plymouth for the second in a trilogy of matches in the South-West.

Lee Cook is continuing on the road to recovery from his knee injury after undergoing surgery in the summer. The club haven't committed to a return date for the player and are unlikely to rush him back, especially as this injury has caused him so many problems in the last two seasons.

Alejandro Faurlin, the club's new signing from Instituto, is much nearer to first-team contention after a thigh injury. The club website says he will miss out whilst Sportinglife.com claims he will face a late fitness test. You probably have to go with the club on this one. There are similarly mixed signals about Mikele Leigertwood who suffered a similar injury but is a potential choice for tonight.

QPR's other summer signing, striker Alessandro Pellicori, has now been granted 'international clearance' to play. This means, as far as I can understand it, that the Italian FA have now given clearance to the English FA for the player to play in an English league (if someone has a better understanding of the intricacies of work permits, etc, please clear this up). He could be an important signing for QPR because as mentioned previously, I felt Samuel Di Carmine was such a let-down for them. If Pellicori has 10 goals in him, it could make a big difference to their league position. Tonight could be the first indication of how likely that is.

That leaves Heidar Helguson and Adel Taarabt who are both on international duty. Iceland face Slovakia at home and Morocco welcome Congo - both friendlies. The esteemed LoftForWords.co.uk (http://www.clubfanzine.com/QPR/ - this is the marker to aim for with QPR websites. The guy who runs it has a frightening knowledge of QPR and lower-division football in general) reports that Kaspars Gorkss has pulled a Craig Bellamy (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/aug/11/manchester-city-wales-craig-bellamy-injury), by withdrawing from the Latvian squad whilst still being named in the QPR squad for tonight. Perhaps the club will do the diplomatic thing and not risk him. Damion Stewart certainly deserves a start after missing out at the weekend.

As for the opposition, all their problems seem to lie up front. In a close 2-1 defeat at Elland Road on Saturday, striker Barry Corr was sent off, meaning he will miss this match alongside three other forwards who could all miss out through injury - Adam Stansfield, Ben Watson and Richard Logan.

That leaves Craig McAllister, a summer 2008 signing from Oxford United, who made the vast majority of his appearances from the bench last season, whilst still managing 7 goals. The other option is the relatively untested James Norwood, a 19-year old signing from Eastbourne Town, who play in the Ryman League Division 1 South. A scorer of a pretty remarkable 94 goals in 54 games for them and England Schools, he also has the honour of having part of his wages paid for by the supporters. A branch of the Supporter's Trust started an initiative whereby each pays £19 a month towards his wages, which suggests they can't be too high. So the supposed 'richest club in the world' is facing one where the supporters largely own the club and band together to pay a young striker's wages. Magic of the cup, you couldn't predict it, etc, etc.

Norwood to grab a winner in the last-minute? This would not be the away trip QPR would have wanted just three days after the start of the season, though it's a journey they will have to get used to with the games against Plymouth and Bristol City to come. Exeter are best known in popular memory for getting a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford in the FA Cup (a game which did wonders for their bank balance) and for welcoming the late, great Wacko Jacko (can you still call him that?) to have a walk around under one of his umbrellas. Since then, they've been relegated to the Conference, taken over by their Supporter's Trust and in the last two seasons, sailed through two successive promotions to now sit pretty in League One. Based just on the hard time that they gave Leeds in their opening game, they are not a team that is easily bowed by big-name opposition (do QPR qualify?). When you add in that they are at home, it's early in the season so form is hard to predict and the fact that QPR are normally woeful in the cups, then it could easily be a home win.

So I'm going to go for QPR to win 2-1 again. If I stick with this score, it will soon be right.

Prediction - 1-2. Away Win.