Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

After a summer in which QPR have solidly added to their squad, with the potential re-addition of Adel Taarabt still to follow once a deal over his signing-on fee is hashed out, one of the most important new options for manager Neil Warnock could be midfielder Martin Rowlands. That's once he has finally recovered from the horrible injury which has kept him out for the last nine months.

I got the chance to speak to Martin at the end of last month for H & F News and I asked him about his recovery, his hopes for next season and his love for QPR.

He's been missing from the first team since last October, when he suffered torn cruciate ligaments while on international duty with the Republic of Ireland - after falling foul of a very similar injury earlier in the year as well - and that limited his league appearances in the last campaign to just six.

Having missed half of the previous season as well, Rangers' supporters will be itching to not only see the new players Warnock has brought to their club, but also the return of Rowlands, who will hope to quickly make a berth in the midfield his own.

What was most apparent to me when I spoke to him, was that he is absolutely itching to start playing football again and he pinpointed the end of August as a potential date for a return to first-team action.

He said: "“I can’t wait to get going. It’s a massive opportunity for the club to do something this year."

After returning to light training duties, he sat out the club's recent trip to Italy for a couple of friendlies, but in the last few weeks he was close to once again taking part in full contact training with his squad mates. He also said the whole squad was in high spirits ahead of the league campaign, which kicks off this weekend with Barnsley's visit to Loftus Road.

Martin said: "The mood has been brilliant. The new players have come in. We knew that the squad needed strengthening and I expect there will be further strengthening to come. Players come and go in football, you’re used to that, especially over the summer."

Shaun Derry was one of those signings, a tough midfielder who could easily fulfill the role that Gavin Mahon so expertly performed until a long-term injury curtailed his season as well. With the manager preferring a 4-3-3 formation in pre-season friendlies too, thereby limiting the midfield places available, will Martin have a fight on his hands to get straight back into the side?

He said: "Everyone needs that. The best teams in the world have more than one good player competing in every position. It means everyone wants to do better and try to get better."

Surprisingly, despite being born in Hammersmith, he didn't grow up as a Rangers fan saying that he didn't really have a team but he clearly does have close ties to the area. So it's hard to imagine him jumping ship, even if everything isn't plain sailing straight away in the club's latest attempt to get closer to promotion.

"My three children were all born at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital", he said, which is just a few minutes' walk from Loftus Road.



“You can’t get any closer to the club than that."

And he wasn't ready to start looking ahead to any games in particular, even if the club could have back-to-back London derbies against Milwall and Crystal Palace soon after the midfielder's return.

He said: "You just look forward to every single game. You can’t take your eye off that and start thinking about particular teams that are ahead. It’s a tough league, it’s the same for everyone and we all have to concentrate.”