Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

For the Hoops, Matt Connolly, who was already out for a long spell this season with glandula fever, now has a hip problem and so could miss out this afternoon. It will be disappointing for the player who will have been ready to make amends for one of his poorer games against Coventry last Saturday.

Steven Reid joins him in the treatment room with a hamstring injury which could damage his potential impact on his one-month loan. Rowan Vine is closer to first-team football after using the international break to undergo a hernia operation and Lee Cook is edging nearer to contention - expect him back at Christmas or the New Year if all things go to plan.


QPR's current position in the table is more a reflection of their breakneck form in October but they now have just one win in the last five games. At the same time, performances in recent matches have still been above par, barring a slack defeat at Doncaster so the points tally at the moment isn't matching what happening on the pitch.

Boro though will be equally keen to take home the three points. They're without a win in five so Gordan Strachan is still to taste victory since taking over four games ago. If you're fond of omens though, he waited until his fifth game in charge to win at Coventry and Southampton. Expect that fact to be repeated ad nauseum on the Football League Show tonight should Boro win.


The last two games which I thought Rangers would win comfortably have shown how hard it is to maintain form in the Championship, though Rangers have done themselves few favours in that time. But the football they are producing has been of a high enough standard to suggest the recent lack of wins has been a mere blip rather than a sign of any terminal decline. So it's hard to go for anything else than a home win again, though the keeper and back four will have to be switched on from the first minute.

HOME WIN