Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

On Saturday, QPR were the side striving for the three points which could finally provide a positive slant on their season. They achieved it emphatically against Crystal Palace, with one of their best performances of the season, certainly away from Loftus Road and thereby all but guaranteeing their presence in this league next season. The result pushed them six points above the relegation area with a game in hand and Saturday's losing side alongside Sheffield Wednesday now look the much more likely candidates for the drop.

This weekend then could take on a strange tone for QPR as they face opponents in greater need of a win. Cardiff look in as good a position for the play-offs as Rangers do to stay up, but they will be aware that competitors at the top of the league are far more likely to pick up points than rivals at the bottom. It would take a monumental slip-up for them to drop out of the top six at this late stage, but they have previous in that regard, capitulating at the end of last season to allow Preston to sneak in on the final day.

Their manager, Dave Jones, has already said they need one further win to secure their play-off berth so they will be fully primed to finish the job at Loftus Road. What attitude Rangers bring to the table will be interesting to see. They seemed to have already lost their nerves and tension over facing the drop on Saturday, playing with an abandon and unity of purpose which was startling in its unexpectedness. If they can keep that positive spirit against Cardiff and play for the enjoyment of the game rather than a need to pick up points, they will cause them problems.

Talking about his side's remaining games, Jones said: "We're edging towards it. One win will probably see us there. One win should be enough. Other results don't affect us - we've just got to do our bit. It's not about teams catching us up, we've got to get away from them."

Spoiling Cardiff's procession to the play-offs won't weigh too heavily on QPR or manager Neil Warnock's minds as they are likely to still be walking on cloud nine from Saturday's result. A blistering strike from Akos Buzsaky opened the scoring for Rangers before a well-taken header from Kaspars Gorkss finished off any meager resistance that Palace could muster. Over the course of the 90 minutes, Tamas Priskin and Jay Simpson both missed opportunities to increase Rangers' lead in a surprisingly dominant performance in which Alejandro Faurlin was peerless in midfield and Peter Ramage, who had to switch to centre-back in the opening minute after a horrible head injury to Damion Stewart, was never better.

I also mentioned the battle of the keepers before this game and it was one which Radek Cerny firmly won, twice denying Palace from close range and looking though he had never been out the side, a fact acknowledged by the noisy Rangers support. Despite Cerny's assured display, rumours about Palace's keeper joining his ex-manager in defecting to QPR haven't dissipated.

Such concerns will wait until the close season though and for now, QPR can look forward to playing their remaining games in a much more relaxed frame of mind than looked likely just a couple of weeks ago.