Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

The midweek defeat to Ipswich was the latest confirmation that all QPR's concerns now lie at the bottom of the table rather than anywhere near the top. With other results going against them, Rangers slumped to 17th, just two points outside the drop zone.

One of the sides to benefit from the Hoops' run of defeats is Coventry City who have more practice this season at scrapping in the bottom half of the table. Their win over Nottingham Forest lifted them to the relative safety of 14th, though still just five points from the bottom three.

Which side can seize the initiative in today's clash could have a massive bearing on their continued presence in this division then. A win for Coventry would confirm their upturn in form and give them even more breathing space whilst seriously damaging the perilously weak confidence of QPR. If the visitors snap out of their funk though and earn their first three point haul of the year, they could start out on the road to a more respectable league finish.

QPR Team News

To gain that victory, QPR will be without recent loan signing Marcus Bent. Bent made an awkward debut in the defeat against Peterborough United but in just his second game on Tuesday, he limped out after eight minutes. Though the initial signs are that the injury isn't too serious, he won't be back in time for this game.

Fellow loan signing Tamas Priskin, who came in from Ipswich Town less than two weeks ago, is available to play though. He had to sit out the Ipswich game in midweek under the terms of his loan but will likely partner QPR's top scorer Jay Simpson in attack.

Peter Ramage returns after serving his one match ban but Mikele Leigertwood has two more games to miss following his sending-off at Peterborough and Gary Borrowdale has been suffering with a calf injury but should be fit enough to make the bench.

That leaves Rangers' two long-term absentees, Gavin Mahon and Martin Rowlands. Rowlands is out for the rest of the season but Mahon is still on course for an April return.

Coventry Team News

The Sky Blues could throw new signing Freddie Sears straight into the action following his loan move from West Ham on Thursday. The transfer of Leon Best to Newcastle cut Coventry's striking options to just Clinton Morrison and Freddy Eastwood, who have 16 league goals between them.

The two doubts in their squad are midfielder Aron Gunnarsson (leg) and defender James McPake (back) who will both be given late fitness tests. 

Form

QPR's form before Mick Harford arrived was poor enough, but despite the best efforts of the new manager, results have really taken a turn for the worse, with just one point from 15. It's relegation form pure and simple and the club desperately need to turn it around soon. Their last league win came under Paul Hart on Boxing Day, a scrappy 2-1 victory over Bristol City. Prior to that, you have to go back to November 7th and a trip to Hillsborough for another QPR win.

Coventry on the other hand have solidly, if less than spectacularly, put together a four game unbeaten run, including some less than easy matches against Nottingham Forest and Swansea City. When the two sides last met at Loftus Road in November, a Richard Wood goal earned Coventry a 2-2 draw. In fact, they're unbeaten in five against QPR since Rangers' 1-0 win at the Ricoh Arena in April 2007.

Prediction

The previous encounter between these two sides could be taken as a good marker for this afternoon's game. Coventry were less than pretty on the day, tackling hard and quickly getting possession up to their strikers who were a handful, particularly Clinton Morrison who is rarely concerned about ingratiating himself with the opposition's supporters.

I also saw Coventry play against Doncaster over Christmas and again, they were second-best in terms of style and possession play, but lacked nothing in commitment, another late goal this time earning them all three points.

They will have few illusions about their aim for this season as well, simply staying in the league.

The key factor will be if QPR now face up to a similar goal. For too long the club have laboured under misguided pretensions of making into the Premiership but recent weeks have pulled down that facade. They still have players of a high enough quality to make relegation seem perverse, but if they aren't awake to the danger ahead of them, they could yet again come unstuck against a more hardened side.

The second half against Ipswich showed a new urgency and passion to QPR's play which they will need in bucketfuls but again, the fact it couldn't be maintained for more than 45 minutes ruined their chances. Lack of concentration at the back and lack of confidence in the attacking positions are currently strangling the life out of this side.

Look out for Rangers' performance levels in the first 20 minutes of this game; if they can come through them unharmed and without conceding they stand a chance. That said, I think home games are still their best chance of picking up the points they need and the squad's morale is still too brittle to pick up wins on the road just yet.

A draw is more than likely, but I think Coventry could just nick a win.

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