On Washington time — Preview Tuesday, 19th Apr 2016 13:09 by Clive Whittingham Just four games left until the end of the season now, and QPR couldn’t have it much tougher than a trip to in-form Brighton this evening. Brighton and Hove Albion (3rd) v Queens Park Rangers (11th)Championship >>> Tuesday April 19, 2016 >>> Kick Off 19.45 >>> Weather — Overcast with some sun >>> Falmer Stadium By a quirk of the fixture list, Brighton and Hove Albion still have automatic promotion in their own hands despite sitting third with just four games to go. Boro and Burnley, the top two, play each other this evening guaranteeing a drop of points somewhere, and then Brighton face the North East side themselves on the final day. Win all four and the Premier League place they richly deserve after a tremendously consistent season will be theirs. Judging by Friday night’s 5-0 demolition of Fulham on this ground — be nice if that Fulham side turned up at Loftus Road every once in a while rather than the one pretending to be the Hungarian national team of 1953 — on Friday says they’ve every intention of doing that. Mind you, that should have been the case with Cardiff City on Saturday. Trailing sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday by five points, but still with a trip to Hillsborough on the calendar, one would have thought the Welsh side would have been keen to throw various kitchen appliances at a QPR side with nothing to play for in order to secure a win that kept the dream alive. In the end it was more Iain Duncan Smith’s “don’t underestimate the determination of a quiet man” than Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” and they seemed just as happy as Rangers to amble their way through a quiet 0-0 draw as long as nobody got hurt. Quite what QPR got out of that I’m not sure, other than further practice in the art of drawing away and winning at home which has almost been perfected in the second half of this season and will provide a play-off spot if it can be repeated in 2016/17. Still, with nothing to play for, and against limited opposition, it would have been nice to see Rangers throw one or two rocks back. Tonight promises to be a lot tougher, and we’ll also likely see a few changes to the visiting line up given that Hasselbaink seems keen to rotate his team for the Tuesday fixtures as a matter of course and routine. That will hopefully include more of a role for Conor Washington, who was given the fag end of the Cardiff match when the ball was almost exclusively at the other end of the field. I, like Hasselbaink it seems, doubt he has it within him to play the lone striker role currently occupied by Seb Polter, and it’s no real surprise to see him having little effect when he is tried there. But he could well be useful in the fabled ‘ten’ spot behind the German, or better still — given his fondness for cutting inside from the left channel onto his right foot for a shot even when he is ostensibly playing up front — in the wide left spot currently occupied by the surely-soon-departed Junior Hoilett. Hasselbaink wanted to use Karl Henry in a wide area on Saturday to keep Peter Whittingham under lock and key — very effective move as it turns out, even if you’re not Henry’s biggest fan he’ll need replacing adequately if he is leaving this summer — and may opt for that again with people like Anthony Knockaert tip toeing around the place tonight. But I’d certainly like to see Washington given some full games in that wide left role, or up front, or anywhere really, before the end of the season. A gamble he may have been, but he wasn’t an inexpensive one and at the moment I don’t feel like we’re any closer to knowing where he fits in our team, or if he fits in it at all, than we were when he arrived. His Championship minutes certainly haven’t increased greatly for spending half a season here and the lack of a goal will start to become a mental factor if it drags on into next season — websites like this one will say things like “Conor Washington has yet to get off the mark for QPR eight months after joining from Peterborough” if he hasn’t scored by August. Even if he’s not playing well, fitting in or gelling, there’s a chance a ball might fly in off his bum while he’s out there that simply doesn’t exist while said arse is parked on the bench. He needs minutes and we need him to get minutes as well. It’s hard to see why he wouldn’t be given the last four matches this season in one position or another, particularly with Hoilett surely departing the club this summer. QPR may have been contractually obligated to make the Canadian a millionaire for the last four years, but it’s not our job to put him in the shop window for his impending Bosman free transfer. Give Washington a go instead. Links >>> Rose wonder goal — History >>> Finishing line in sight — Interview >>> First timer — Referee Highlights from the first meeting between these sides this season when QPR fought back from two goals down to salvage a draw thanks to a brace from Charlie Austin. TuesdayTeam News: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has shown a keenness to rotate his squad whenever there's a Tuesday match thrown into the mix and this is likely to be no exception with Conor Washington and Junior Hoilett, in particular, pushing for a start from Saturday's bench along with Ben Gladwin and Nasser El Khayati. Cue "Les Ferdinand picks the team" Twitter bile whatever he decides. Jamie Mackie is almost certainly out for the season with his latest hamstring twang. Brighton, the swines, have no fresh injury concerns and could, in fact, welcome back striker Sam Baldock after he overcame his fear of Tuesdays. Elsewhere: The final round of Tuesday night Championship excitement is headlined by Burnley welcoming Boro — the top two in the division bound to drop points one way or another here with Albion keenly waiting to nip in on whoever slips up. One would presume The Red Dragons might make slightly more effort to win their game at Brentford than they did against QPR on Saturday, trailing the Sheffield Owls by five points with four games to go and the South Yorkshire outfit facing a home gimme against Franchise. The Derby Sheep, at the Wurzels, and Tigers Tigers Rah Rah Rah, at Waitrose, are both in that awkward position we found ourselves in two years ago of being safe in the play-off zone but out of reach of the top two and trying to maintain form, confidence and momentum without breaking anybody's leg ahead of the end of season knockout. It's pretty much all over at the bottom now with Already Relegated Bolton and Already Relegated Charlton meeting in what's sure to be the most thrilling spectacle seen in this country since David Gray last toured. A clutch of teams immediately above that drop zone, but just about safe, can reflect on poor seasons — apart from Neil Warnock's Christmas Miracle who face Huddersfield. The Nottingham Trees and the Mad Chicken Farmers face each other in a festival of self loathing, while Tarquin and Rupert can reflect on their good fortune and societal privilege on the way back from Ipswich. Remarkably, there's still more. Birmingham v Preston, for instance, is also taking place. And The Champions of Europe v Wolves, with Massimo Cellino's interview with the Telegraph this week confirming yet another change of manager is around the corner. Just as well, Steve Evans continues to lose weight at this rate he'll have Michael Buerk turning up soon to file news reports on it. Who can say where the road goes? Where the day flows? Only time. And who can say if your love grows, as your heart chose? Only time. Referee: You know the season is over when Action Images stop sending photographers to your games (come on lads, that deal doesn't come cheaply) and the league start giving you rookie referees. Here comes Mark Heywood, not to be confused with Mark Haywood, for his QPR bow. Stats here. FormBrighton: Albion's season mirrors almost result for result the title winning campaign QPR enjoyed under Neil Warnock in 2010/11. There was a long unbeaten run to start the season (20 games through to the middle of December, QPR managed 19) followed by a wobble through Christmas (no wins from seven and four defeats; QPR lost three and drew one of six Festive fixtures) and then an impressive recovery which currently stands at one defeat, and 11 wins, from 16 matches. They've won their last three matches, scoring nine goals, and haven't lost in ten coming into this one. At home this season Chris Hughton's side have won 14, drawn four and lost three — Wolves, Ipswich and Boro the only three sides to win on this ground, all in a fortnight in late December. QPR: Rangers are starting to slip quite nicely into the win at home and draw away mentality on which a solid Championship play-off campaign is built — the R's are sixth in the division's form table since Christmas. They haven't won away in seven attempts now, dating back to Rotherham in January, and have only won one of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's 12 road games in charge, but they've drawn eight of those including six of the last seven and the last three. After a period of defensive stability, Saturday's clean sheet at Cardiff was the first in five attempts. Prediction: Reigning LFW Prediction League champion isawqpratwhitecity tells us… "There have been only three more-or-less consistently strong teams in the Championship this season: Boro, Burnley and Brighton, and unfortunately we're paddling on the South Coast tonight. Since January, they've managed 9-4-1, but at home, that works out to 5-2-0 with 18 goals for and only four against. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water..." Jims Prediction: Brighton 3-0 QPR No Scorer LFW's Prediction: Brighton 2 QPR 0. No scorer. The Twitter @loftforwords Pictures — Action Images Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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