Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

Games this early shouldn't be classed as 'must-wins' especially in the Championship which is always guaranteed to be tight and competitive until the season's final moments. But for QPR, their game today against Nottingham Forest is now taking on particularly elevated significance. Lose and fail to score and however premature it would be, doubts will be cast on the ability of Jim Magilton to improve on last season's position and actually get this team in the play-offs. A win could turn what currently looks a dismal start to the season into a much more respectable one and would bump the Hoops up the league. It would also demonstrate that the attacking potential shown in all three opening league games actually has some end product.

In the team news, QPR still cannot call on Angelo Balanta or captain Martin Rowlands who are both yet to recover from ankle injuries but they should be in first-team contention sooner rather than later. Lee Cook, of course, is a long-term absentee.

The team selected today could well be very similar to that selected on Tuesday night despite the defeat. Some key points to look for will be who Magilton opts for as his central defensive partnership – he has yet to pick the same two players in this position for consecutive games. On Tuesday he opted for Damion Stewart and Fitz Hall with less than spectacular results. Stewart and Kaspars Gorkss was the natural partnership last season during which QPR were a difficult team to score against, but Fitz Hall has made a solid start to the season and will be considered for a place.

In midfield, the main talking point will be if Magilton sticks with his 4-5-1 formation, playing one holding midfielder behind three attack-minded players or goes back to a more traditional 4-4-2, with a holding pair, two wingers and two men up front. The logic of a home game would dictate two strikers, though who this should be is hard to judge. Not one of QPR's strikers has made a good start to the season, though in fairness to Rowan Vine and Angelo Balanta they've not had long on the pitch. I'd like to see Alessandro Pellicori play. With the confidence that a home game inspires, it would be a good indication of how well he is fitting into the team. The same goes for Alejandro Faurlin – he wasn't completely on the pace on Tuesday but Magilton has since described that as a 'baptism of fire'. Today's match could be a much more comfortable introduction to the Championship, without trying to diminish the threat that Nottingham Forest pose.

Moving on to the visitors then, no club in the Championship has a bigger history than the Reds, coupled with a feeling that it's glory days are behind it. Investment has gone into the team this summer and there is renewed ambition to move up the Championship table and soon challenge for promotion, but in recent years, Forest have been a shell of the side which twice won Europe's biggest honour. Only last season, they flirted with relegation and stayed up partly due to the contribution of on-loan striker Dexter Blackstock, who has now joined the club permanently from QPR.

That illustrious history (how many clubs across Europe can be twice winners of the European Cup and now be playing in the second tier of their league?) is largely put down to the influence of one man who has been back on the radar recently thanks to the book and subsequent film 'The Damned United' which describes Brian Clough's 44 days in charge of Leeds United. Had Clough's career ended there, he would be seen as a 'nearly-man' of football. Instead he went on to turn a provincial club in the Second Division into the champions of Europe. In his second season at the club, with his right-hand man Peter Taylor now on board, Clough guided the team to promotion and followed it with the League Championship at the first attempt – a feat which hasn't been repeated since and which looking at the closed-shop at the top of the Premiership, now looks very unlikely. It also made Clough the only manager since Herbert Chapman to win the league with two different clubs, having already won the league at Derby County (only Kenny Dalglish has since repeated that feat and no other manager has ever done this with two lower-league clubs).

From there, Forest supporters must have been in dream land as the club went on to back-to-back European Cup wins. If the QPR board need a template for success, they should look no further than Clough, though its debatable how much his outspoken approach to the game would be tolerated nowadays.

His final years were much sadder as he fell into alcoholism and Forest succumbed to relegation in 1992-93, Clough's final season. Since then, the club have been back in the Premiership but also as low as the third tier of English football, the only European Cup winners to suffer this fate. They spent 3 seasons there, only returning to the Championship last season where their safety was only ensured in the penultimate game.

Along with Blackstock though, the club have brought in nine players this summer in an attempt to consolidate their position in the Championship and were even outside bets to go up, though they have suffered an even worse start than QPR with only one point currently on the board.

What Forest have that QPR would kill for is a plethora of strikers to call on. Alongside Blackstock, Dele Adebola also signed on a free in the summer after turning down the opportunity to renew his contract with Bristol City and despite his critics, he does have a proven track record of scoring at this level. They could also call on Robert Earnshaw, who struggled through an injury-hit first season with the Reds but still managed to score in nearly half his games and Nathan Tyson, who without being prolific, has an ability to conjure something out of the blue which could break the deadlock between these two teams.

Forest will be without one of their brightest talents, midfielder Lewis McGugan, who suffered a broken cheekbone against Watford on Tuesday and could face up to six weeks on the sidelines. That leaves a big hole in the Forest midfield and they have also struggled at the back in recent games, though Luke Chambers returns at centre-back following a three game suspension, which will allow Chris Cohen to return to his preferred position in the central midfield. Manager Billy Davies is also without Julian Bennett (knee), Guy Moussi (thigh), Garath McCleary (leg), James Perch (shin) and Kelvin Wilson.

The current form for both sides is poor, with Forest currently in the relegation places with only 1 point from their first three games, though they've had some tough opening fixtures. After a creditable 0-0 draw at Reading on the opening day, they lost 1-0 at home to another promotion candidate, WBA before falling to a much more disappointing 4-2 defeat at Watford on Tuesday.

QPR won this fixture 2-1 last season, Angelo Balanta and Akos Buzsaky getting the goals though Forest played some good football on the day and Billy Davies will hope to stick to those principles this season. The return fixture ended 2-2, Matteo Alberti the surprise scorer, so on recent form there are goals in this fixture. Forest actually have a poor record at Loftus Road, winning only once in their last eight visits back in 1998, and a win for the Hoops today would be a fourth successive home league victory over the Reds.

Most importantly, QPR are a good side and have proved that already this season despite the poor points haul. This is especially the case at home, which is more suited to their build-up play and at times, top-heavy formation. Forest will be looking to hit QPR on the break and with the forwards at their disposal, finding the net is not out of the question. I think there are goals in this one, going on last season's form and the defensive shakiness of both sides this season, but I also think QPR will just shade it. I've tipped them for a win in all but one game this season (Tuesday night's defeat to Bristol City which I thought would be a draw) but a win really is on the cards and possibly even a comfortable one soon if the team can finally gel. Expect Blackstock to find the net as well though - some things are just destined to happen.

PREDICTION

QPR 3 Nottingham Forest 2