After a dreary, long, drawn out, international break of zero significance it's back to the wonderful, long, drawn out monotony of the Championship for QPR this weekend. Praise Jesus.

Queens Park Rangers (3rd) v Charlton Athletic (19th)

Old First Division >>> Saturday November 23, 2013 >>> Kick Off 15.00 >>> Loftus Road , London , W12

I slept through most of Soccer Saturday last weekend — even seeing my future hairline atop Paul Jewell's fat head was only frightening enough to stave off sleep for so long, particularly when the face beneath it was describing Notts County 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1. Once I was absolutely sure that my accumulator for the day had gone the way of all my other previous accumulators since the beginning of time I nodded off.

Something seemed different in the drawing room at LFW Towers when I came round. I couldn't quite put my finger on it at first and a puzzled silence of about 45 seconds was eventually pierced by my younger brother's dulcet tones saying "Yeh, I know, I'm sorry, you don't have to say anything."

Turns out he'd become rather bored during the football-less afternoon as well and decided the best thing to do would be to take the net curtains down and sling them in with his football kit on a hot wash. Now we have a flat full of windows guarded by net curtains that only stretch a third of the way down to the windowsill.

Later in the day we scrabbled around like a couple of cokeheads sniffing around the floor of a nightclub toilet registering laptops for BT Sport so we could stream Barnet v Cambridge. When an injury time corner disappeared into a cloud of smoke from a flare behind the goal, then dropped down and into the net off the head of young striker George Sykes for a late Barnet winner we were up and out of our seats cheering. And when the linesman inexplicably ruled that it had magically blown out of play, and then presumably back in again, while it was obscured by the smoke and disallowed it, there was anger. And beer bottles were thrown at the television.

God international breaks are shit aren't they? An unwelcome break in football that people still care about to facilitate a load of guff that they don't, plunging the common Championship supporter into a normal person’s Saturday — a dreadful mix of household chores, trips to B&Q, dreadful reality television and, horror of horrors, socialising with non-football people. I’d rather be at work. And what makes it worse is that having had the opening three months of the season regularly punctures with these fortnight breaks, we’re now absolutely besieged with fixtures — four in the next fortnight, ten in the next six weeks — just when money is tightest and the weather is at its most unforgiving. God bless football, and all who sail in her.

Even 90 minutes watching Chile's gloriously entertaining extreme version of what we're told we absolutely have to refer to as tika taka — played literally on their own goal line between two centre halves and an eccentric goalkeeper until an opponent comes to try and nudge the ball in over the line at which point the space behind him is immediately and efficiently exploited with three quick forward passes and a goal — could only stave off the sheer, unmitigated tedium for so long. Still, that’s my second team for the World Cup all tied up.

Back to the good stuff this week thank goodness. Hook it to my veins.

I do occasionally wonder — look, I have a long commute, ok? — what might have happened to QPR and Charlton had Rangers done as they should have in 1996 and appointed Alan Curbishley as their new manager when Ray Wilkins left. Newly relegated, but minted by Chris Wright's takeover, Rangers looked set for a First Division title push while what would become a wonderful success story down at The Valley was still in its infancy. Board member at the time Nick Blackburn told fanzine AKUTR's that Curbishley had personally told him he would take the job.

In the end Rangers went for Arsenal coach Stewart Houston, who spent £2.35m on Mike Sheron from Stoke, while Curbishley stayed with Charlton and spent £900,000 on Clive Mendonca from Grimsby — a far better striker who'd been scoring far more goals, far more consistently, in a much worse team, for far longer. Charlton went to the Premier League and, after one yo-yo, stayed there for a decade while Rangers collapsed into administration and the Second Division. So very typically QPR.

It all goes to make a turd I suppose — here we are all these years later back in the second tier together, separated by just 16 places. Almost makes you wonder what the point is doesn't it? Until you have to spend a Saturday without it, then the point becomes all too clear.

Crown and Sceptre here we come.

Links >>> Opposition Profile >>> History >>> Referee >>> Betting

Saturday

Team News: Little Tom Carroll is touring prospective secondary schools for next year with his mum this weekend so remains unavailable. The back spasm that forward Richard Dunne off against Reading isn't enough to rule him out here, which is just as well really because the early action forced upon Nedum Onuoha by that injury at the Madejski Stadium has set him back in his recovery from a hamstring injury and he is now unavailable for the next two weeks during which time Rangers play four matches. That's a big ask for the ageing limbs of Dunne and Clint Hill so USA international Oguchi Onyewu may get a belated debut, if he can recover from his own knock. He has a fitness test booked in before the Charlton game, as does the permanently crocked Junior Hoilett and Jermaine Jenas.

Elsewhere: Relationships already going through a testing time in that stressful period running up to Christmas threaten to tip over into messy divorce and domestic violence tonight as men who really ought to know better cancel dinner plans to rush home for the titanic struggle between Doncaster Rovers and Yeovil Town (live on Sky Sports 1, kick off 19.45). And if it is you waking up in the spare room tomorrow then fear not — roll over, sort yourself out, then load up the lap top for a live feed of Sheffield Wednesday v Huddersfield at 12.15. Isn't life wonderful sometimes?

If you get thrown out of the house altogether then you may choose to actually go to a game instead, and looking down the lust there are some absolute belters as the Championship reaches that never anything less than crucial sixteenth round of fixtures. Titles are won and lost right here, on this weekend, in some parallel universe where the moon is Simon Thomas' face and the soundtrack to life is an endless stream of bile about just how fucking important everything is all the time.

Forest v Burnley is probably the pick of the dirge this weekend, with Leicester's trip to Ipswich also holding some sort of half interest for QPR supporters longing for a return to the land of £52 away tickets and two heavy defeats a week. Blackpool are at Birmingham for want of something better to do with their time while Reading, sixth but leaking like a dodgy bathroom installation, face Blackburn. LFW's tip for the title Bolton , roaring up on the rails and just eight points shy of the play off places, go to Udinese where Gianfranco Zola remains under pressure.

At the other end there's a super, duper, uber, megatron 12-pointer daghn at The Den with mighty, mighty Millwall hosting Barnsley.

There are also fixtures between Wigan and Brighton, and Bournemouth and Derby , but you'd have to be a right pussy to be interested in either of them. Do me a bloody favour — Bournemouth v Derby indeed.

Referee: Northants official Dean Whitestone is in charge of this weekend's fixture between QPR and Charlton — his first Rangers appointment since a 2-1 victory against Doncaster in 2010. He's refereed Charlton a bit recently though, sending off two of their players in his last four appointments. For his full QPR case file and stats please click here.

Form

QPR: Rangers are currently third, with one defeat in their first 15 matches, two points shy of leaders Burnley and level on points with second-placed Leicester — the Foxes have already lost three times, but are able to turn draws into wins more effectively than Harry Redknapp's side. Part of the reason for that is QPR's meagre goalscoring record — the R's have yet to score more than twice in a match this season and have only done that on five occasions so far, which isn't what you'd expect of a team so high up the table. The success has been built on the Football League's strongest defensive record — the R's kept a club record eight clean sheets through August and September but have only had one shut out in their last six fixtures and conceded six of the eight goals they've shipped in the entire campaign so far during that run. They've won one of the last five but drawn the other three. At home this season they're unbeaten — six wins and a draw from seven fixtures and just two goals conceded.

Charlton: Chris Powell's side when on a splendid run at the end of last season — six wins, four draws and just one defeat from the last 11 fixtures — which lifted them to within three points of the play offs. Had the season gone on a fortnight longer, or their run started two weeks earlier, who knows where they might be now? Financial constraints meant that was always going to be tough to continue into the new season and so it has proved. They've won only three times so far this campaign and currently sit nineteenth in the league. Two of those three success have come away from home in their last two road trips though — 1-0 wins at Birmingham and Blackburn perhaps setting a little alarm bell ringing in W12 ahead of this Saturday's encounter. They'd lost four and drawn one of their five road games before that in all comps though so it's not the most formidable record a team will bring to Shepherds Bush this season. Charlton have scored nine goals in the second half of games this season, compared to just three in the first, but haven't won a London derby since a 2009 home game against Crystal Palace .

Betting: Professional odds compiler Owen Goulding tells us…

"QPR play host to a London derby this weekend as proper football resumes after a few weeks off. Charlton are the visitors and bring with them an inconsistent record. Their recent form is quite good; losing only one of their last five games, when a Ross McCormack inspired Leeds gave them a lesson in finishing just prior to the international break. However, their previous two away games will cause concern to Rangers, with narrow 1-0 victories at both Birmingham and Blackburn . Charlton have a very young team, and Chris Powell is slowly trying to build for the future. Simon Church will probably lead the line for them on Saturday, supported by a very young midfield of which Callum Harriott is one to watch. With Leon Cort still missing, the defence will be marshalled by the inexplicably wide-shouldered Michael Morrison, and he will also provide their main threat from any set-pieces. Those set pieces will be delivered by captain Johnnie Jackson and he must be kept quiet if QPR are to succeed here.

"It's hard to evaluate Charlton matches as generally they look tight defensively, but due to their young team, they will throw in an ill-disciplined performance once in a while. The game to me looks one that will depend on whether Joey Barton can get hold of the midfield. His experience should help massively in a game here, alongside Gary O'Neil and I'm struggling to see Charlton keeping QPR at bay for this one. And the player I'm looking at for my bet on this game is one who has improved massively in recent weeks as his fitness returns. Matt Phillips has looked a real threat in recent weeks, and with the licence to play virtually as a forward when at home."

QPR Bet: Matt Phillips to Score at Anytime at 3/1 (Skybet)

Prediction: Reigning Prediction League champion Mase tells us…

"We return to action on Saturday after yet another international break with a home game against mid-table opposition. Like their south-east London besties, Millwall, Charlton have begun picking up promising results after a slow and defeat-ridden first couple of months. They have been playing several of the better teams in quick succession of late (Wigan, Forest, Blackpool, Blackburn), and have suffered only one defeat in the process to arguably one the weakest, Leeds.

"I have noticed that Charlton struggle to score more than once, and our recent return to form in the defence mean I struggle to see that changing come 17.00. Rangers have hardly been the most free-scoring outfit themselves this season, often relying on the odd goal to squeeze past palpably inferior outfits. One thing Charlton have struggled with defensively is height in the box, and from what I've seen lots of their goals against have been headers from set plays. Perhaps a corner or similar could be a fruitful path. I've been somewhat conservative in my choice of first scorers this season - it's not as easy now that we tend to score, so my habitual "No Scorer" selection is no longer the potent table-climber it proved in 2012/13. I am going to be bold this weekend and tip a centre back for first goal.

"A tight game, against an improving and resolute opposition, awaits. We should just about edge it. Again."

Mase's Prediction: QPR 1-0 Charlton. Scorer: Dunne

LFW's Prediction; QPR 2-0 Charlton. First scorer: Austin

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TacticalR added 23:53 - Nov 22 Perhaps the problem is not so much having an international break, but having an international break for a team that nobody cares about. I saw Charlton against Forest last month, and that was helter-skelter stuff with very little class on offer from either side. However, Charlton have had a couple of decent away results since then, so they must have improved. One of the difficulties in this division is that some matches you can play your way out, others you have to battle your way out, and I've got a feeling this is one where we're going to have battle our way out.

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