Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

Away from their current tribulations in the league, QPR can at least take in the distraction of the Carling Cup tonight, allowing manager Jim Magilton further time to test his squad out. In terms of a second round draw, a home tie with Accrington Stanley, currently four places from the bottom of the league, is not one to pack the supporters in and there will be more than a few empty spaces around Loftus Road (I don't think Naomi Campbell will be up for this one?) It does, however, give the Hoops an excellent chance of remaining in the hat for the third round draw.

In terms of team selection, Magilton should have enough confidence in his squad to make a few changes and I'd expect Matt Connolly, Gavin Mahon, Hogan Ephraim,Rowan Vine and Patrick Agyemang to all be pushing for a place. In terms of absences, Fitz Hall is missing following an injury he sustained on Saturday against Nottingham Forest, so Kaspars Gorkss is likely to start. Magilton could also give a start to his current goalkeeping understudy Tom Heaton, who is on loan from Manchester United. Akos Buzsaky only made the bench on Saturday as well and he looked hungry for some playing time following his long-term lay-off, so he might feature. Martin Rowlands has still not recovered from the injury sustained on the opening day but Angelo Balanta could be back. No news yet on Lee Cook.

Their opponents tonight are household names but that is more attributable to a 1980s advert for milk over any footballing achievements: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBOIXO-X1QU. In the advert, two young lads describe how if they don't drink milk, they could end up having to play for Accrington Stanley. The National Dairy Council originally wanted to use Spurs in their script: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/4788038.stm. Tottenham Hotspur? Who are they? Exactly.

The Lancashire club shouldn't be completely underestimated as opponents though despite their relatively lowly position in League Two, where they have spent the previous three seasons. The club, which folded in 1966 only to reemerge four years later, has come close to some big scalps in this competition. This is the fourth season in a row in which they have faced a Championship side, in which time they've knocked out Nottingham Forest and narrowly missed out to Watford on penalties and by single-goal margins to Leicester City and Wolves.

John Coleman, their manager for the last 10 years (pictured on the left), overseeing three promotions to take them into the league, has close to a full squad to call on. The main problem for Accrington this season has been scoring goals (where have I heard that before?) Much of that responsibility often lies on 35-year old Paul Mullin, the club's record appearances holder who is now in his second spell with the Stans.

They also have a smattering of younger players who could give QPR a fright. Michael Symes could return from injury tonight and he has the distinction of playing up front with Wayne Rooney in the Everton youth set-up. Midfielder Jimmy Ryan, last season's top scorer, also has Merseyside pedigree as a part of Liverpool's FA Youth Cup winning teams in 2006 and 2007 and is also regularly capped for Republic of Ireland U21s.

I'm not even going to bother predicting scores for QPR games anymore because I clearly had some kind of brain freeze before the weekend when I seriously thought they could put three past Nottingham Forest. I don't expect them to win this game as comfortably as they did the Exeter City tie in the first round, despite the home advantage, but they have more than enough talent to prevent any shocks tonight.