Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

QPR's seemingly irrepressible slide down the Championship table could be arrested or further deepened tonight, as the Rs welcome a side who are far from having a positive season of their own. Ipswich Town sit just one place above the relegation area and the buzz surrounding the appointment of Roy Keane has quickly dissipated as the club has put its own promotion ambitions on hold for this season. As we know though, QPR have the weakest form in the whole league and so The Tractor Boys may be quietly confident of picking up what would be only their second away win of the season.

QPR Team News

Rangers are forced into a number of changes ahead of tonight's game but considering the woeful result against Peterborough on Saturday, that is far from a bad thing.

Both Peter Ramage and Mikele Leigertwood are suspended and as a result, Matt Connolly will most likely deputise for Ramage at right-back and Damion Stewart should come in to partner Kaspars Gorkss in central defence.

Leigertwood played on the right side of a four-man midfield on Saturday and there are ready-made/more suitable candidates available such as Hogan Ephraim, Akos Buzsaky or Angelo Balanta.

Up front, top scorer Jay Simpson will surely be recalled after being demoted to the bench for the Peterborough defeat, as Tamas Priskin, a loan signing from tonight's opponents, is unable to play under the terms of his loan.

Ipswich Team News

Roy Keane has no current headaches in terms of injuries to his squad and will have been pleased to see striker Jon Walters come through his first game back after a hamstring injury against Middlesbrough.

Keane has a number of options up front, including Jon Stead, who scored a brace against Rangers when the two sides met just after Christmas, loan pair David Healy and Daryl Murphy, both brought in from Sunderland and Pablo Counago, who scored in the corresponding fixture last season.

Form

None worse than QPR's, truly dire and if it were to extend another two months, it would be enough to see them playing League One football next season. One point from 15, one win in 12 games, four-and-a-half hours without a goal. Try and put a positive spin on those statistics.

Ipswich are the league's draw specialists with 15 already this season and despite being seven places lower down the table than QPR, they've lost two fewer games. Just one away win all season highlights where some of their problems have come from though and particularly early on in the season, they showed a complete inability to actually hold on to a winning lead.

Head-to-head, the visitors also have the advantage, being unbeaten in eight against Rangers and winning the last three. In this fixture last season, Jim Magilton masterminded a smart counter-attacking victory over QPR which nipped in the bud any straining hopes of a play-off spot. Going on to then manage the Hoops, his time at the club now remarkably looks like a tranquil oasis of good football and decent results, despite the rumours of head-butts behind the scenes.

QPR last managed a win against Ipswich in August 2005, with a 2-1 win at Loftus Road.

Prediction

It's not looking good is it? All the above doesn't bode well for QPR's hopes this evening in front of what I'm sure will be a very low and potentially pissed off crowd. It seems silly to say it, when the club have leaked goals all season and have remarkably gone 17 games without a clean sheet, but the biggest problem could be who will step up to act as the creative provider in this team.

It could be Adel Taarabt, but he is pretty unreliable and won't respond well if the crowd gets on his back as he sets off on a trademark cul-de-sac dribble. Buzsaky has probably been the most disappointing player in the QPR squad this season. Maybe he is finally due a good game? Alejandro Faurlin does what he does well but at the moment, that doesn't appear to be a great deal. Perhaps Lee Cook or another player returning from injury will step up to the plate?

In short though, I can't see a glut of goal-chances for Rangers tonight. Considering Ipswich's record, this game has a draw written all over it. But I think it could get even worse than that for the brave few who venture out tonight.

AWAY WIN.