QPR and Cardiff are gearing up for the weekend showdown between the top two in the Championship at Loftus Road.
Ahead of the big match this Saturday players from both sides have been stating their cases. Jamie Mackie told the QPR official website he cannot wait for the game to kick off. He said: "These are the types of games you want to be involved in as a professional footballer. What more could you ask for than first versus second at a packed Loftus Road? Our fans have been fantastic so far this season, but we'll need them behind us again on Saturday because Cardiff always have a strong following. It's a cracking game on paper and all the lads are desperate for kick off already."
Neil Warnock has been keen to play down the clash as a title decider this early in the season. He told the Fulham Chronicle: "The game's come in November and there are just too many left to say that this is the vital match. But I'm thrilled it's a sell out, and our defence will know they've been in a game although we've got the resources to score goals.
His opposite number Dave Jones told the BBC: "It is a massive game, but all games we play at this moment are massive. It'll have a bearing on the season but it's not going to be the be-all and we know how we get carried away in this part of the world. But we want to get back on track, we know we haven't played well the last game. The players want to put that right and there's no better game than to go to a team that if we win we go back top again, so it's a fantastic incentive for us."
Cardiff defender Adam Matthews is ready to step into the breach with Lee Naylor and Darcy Blake both picking up knocks in the defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend. Matthews told Wales Online: "It wasn't the best performance against Nottingham Forest but I'm confident the boys will bounce back strongly. When two top teams meet it can often result in a boring 0-0 draw but I'm going for a 1-0 Cardiff City win and we'll be delighted if that happens. I'd love to play, of course, and I'm ready if needed. It's a tight ground at Loftus Road and the crowd is right on top of you, but there will be big support from the Bluebirds fans and they'll get behind their team. I have a long way to go to reach my potential and I can't expect to play every week with defenders of the quality of Lee Naylor and Kevin McNaughton in front of me. They are good players who help me out a lot, I'm learning all the time. Every young player wants to be involved all the time, but the team is winning games and stands second in the table. I won't be moaning about not starting but I will also be ready if the gaffer needs me."
Cardiff are hoping the effects of a cold and flu bug which swept through their camp this week will be gone by the time they travel to London on Friday. Manager Dave Jones, midfielder Stephen McPhail and striker Jay Bothroyd have all been suffering and a proposed reserve game with Swansea earlier this week was cancelled due to illness.
And if you can bear to direct your attention anywhere other than Loftus Road at 3pm this Saturday, then a brief reminder that Sunday is the day of the FA Cup Third Round draw when QPR enter the competition along with the rest of the Championship and Premiership sides. Rangers will be number 32 in the draw and are currently in the midst of a ten year losing streak in this competition. QPR haven't beaten anybody in the FA Cup since defeating Luton in a Third Round replay in 2001, the longest FA Cup losing run of any team in the country.
Meanwhile midfielder Mikele Leigertwood says he is open to the idea of joining Reading permanently after completing a two month loan deal with the Royals earlier this week. Leigertwood, who will make his debut against Leeds this weekend, told the Reading Evening Post: "I have another year left on my QPR contract after this season and who knows what will happen. If I do well here then Reading might look to extend it, but both parties will have to look at it. We’ll just have to wait and see. Jobi has told me a lot about the place and everyone has been very welcoming. Me and him go way back. The managers, players and all the staff have been first class and even if Jobi wasn’t here I wouldn’t have had a problem settling in.
"I don’t expect to come straight into the side. I know that I have to perform. I haven’t been given that opportunity this season and if I can come here and add something I will be happy. My plan now is to get into the Reading team and help them push into the play-offs. If QPR want me back then they own me and I don’t have a choice. But my aim right now is to play football and help Reading succeed.”
Finally head of development Steve Gallen has been signing the praises of young forward Bruno Andrade who made his first team debut as a second half substitute in the weekend win against Preston. Gallen told the club's official website: "It was brilliant for Bruno to get on at the weekend. He is a local lad and has been great for us, I was delighted for him. When Bruno was 14 I saw him play for our Under 16s against Cambridge and he got a hat trick. When the match had finished I rang Steve Brown and told him we needed to sign this lad right now. In an old fashioned 442 Bruno would be a winger but in a 433 he would be one of the front wide players. In the last few seasons we have almost had a youth player make the first team every year, and we're very proud of that."
Peter Crouch was on the score sheet for Spurs in the Champions league yet again this evening as the north London side swept past Werder Bremen 3-0. Crouch got the third ten minutes from time, converting a low cross from Aaron Lennon, after earlier goals from Kaboul and Modric. Crouch has now scored seven goals this season, six of them in the Champions League where Spurs are playing for the first time since the format changed. The result confirms Tottenham’s progress into the knockout stages with one group game still to play.
- Leeds have extended the loan of Bolton defender Andy O'Brien until January 4. Leeds are unbeaten in five matches and have climbed into the play off places since O'Brien arrived to plug their previously leaky defence.
- Paul Lambert may have to sit in the stands for this weekend's East Anglia derby between his Norwich side and Ipswich after admitting a charge of improper conduct. Lambert has a personal hearing on Thursday to discuss his comments after the Canaries' 3-3 draw at Reading where striker Grant Holt was wrongly sent off by referee Michael Oliver. Although the red card was later overturned, Lambert was still charged for criticising the decision.
- Derby have moved quickly to distance themselves from comments made by Blackpool manager Ian Holloway about striker Luke Varney. Holloway believes the player is definitely Pool's and will sign for £250,000 in January. He said: ""We are going to sign him in January. We have a massive clause in there. He can't go anywhere else and we get him for £250,000. They can't change that, there's nothing they can do about it. Unlucky." But Derby insist no such deal is in place and they can negotiate his sale with other clubs if they wish.
It's a reasonably quiet weekend of engineering works on the tube, with only the following closures to be aware of on Saturday.
Metropolitan Line - No service between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Uxbridge.
Piccadilly Line - No service between South Harrow and Uxbridge.
DLR - No service between Stratford and Bow Church.