Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

Over thirteen years ago, Queens Park Rangers came up against the incredibly entertaining train-wreck that was Kevin Keegan's ultimately unsuccessful bid to win the Premier League with Newcastle Utd. Just three days previously, the Toon Army suffered the calamitous 4-3 defeat at Anfield which sowed so many doubts about their capacity to see out a title-winning season. Therefore, when future QPR manager and current Blackpool boss Ian Holloway opened the scoring and silenced St James Park, the title race could well have been over. Newcastle had to call on another golden son, not on the bench, but on the pitch, in Peter Beardsley, who scored two late goals to keep Alex Ferguson worrying for a few weeks at least.

Jump forward a decade and more to tonight's meeting, the first since that eventful April showdown and Newcastle are once again challenging for the title, though this time in dramatically altered circumstances. After their horrific season last year, the club finally succumbed to a relegation which had been scripted in previous years. In turn, the club's finances were in such disarray and the mismanagement of the club was so total, that during the summer break, they couldn't add to their squad and had to watch as some, if not all, of their previous star players departed for more prestigious pastures.

Their start to life in the Championship has surprised most then and I too thought their miserable run from last season would extend into this. Instead, they have won all but two of their first nine games, with only one defeat and have only conceded one goal at St Jame's Park in the league. In short, my theory that QPR will play better and pick up points against the better teams could be sorely tested tonight with Newcastle gunning to go five points clear at the top of the table.

There are some glimmers of hope for nervous Rangers fans though, not least their own team's steadily improving form which culminated in the five goals smashed past Barnsley on Saturday, leaving them unbeaten in their last five league games.

The team news for Newcastle isn't entirely rosy either, particularly at the back where Fabricio Coloccini, Ryan Taylor and Danny Simpson will all miss out. Further up the pitch, their prospects are slightly better as Woody/Danny Guthrie returns from suspension and more importantly, Jonas Gutierrez is also in contention after recovering from a hamstring injury. He impressed for me in the Premiership and could be a key player for Newcastle this season.

For the Hoops, there is little change in terms of personnel available. Matt Connolly is still suffering with glandular fever, Fitz Hall and Angelo Balanta have yet to fully recover from groin injuries whereas Lee Cook remains sidelined, though a scan this week revealed that the winger can begin light training again. The team could be unchanged from Saturday then, though I still think that Magilton rates Adel Taarabt quite highly and may feel that his ability to keep the ball (if not to pass it) could be valuable in relieving pressure against the Toon.

Just a week after matching Chelsea for most of the 90 minutes, QPR certainly have it within them to give Newcastle a few frights but also to lock them out from scoring. Even at Stamford Bridge, they did not gift the home team a vast amount of clear-cut chances and the Gorkss-Stewart partnership could really start to flourish now, despite the little hiccups on Saturday.

Up front will still be a problem though and Rangers, who are unlikely to open up Newcastle on too many occasions, will need two blinding games from their forward line if they are to win. I think that might just be beyond them but a draw would still be a great result and would set down another marker to the rest of the Championship who may now start to take QPR more seriously (remember that if they were to win their two games in hand, they would be third).

PREDICTION - SCORE DRAW