 Thursday, 28th Oct 2010 22:26 by LFW Cardiff City winger Chris Burke says his side is gunning for QPR this weekend and want to be top of the league. Matt Connolly says the R’s are just concentrating on themselves. NewsBurke was in fine form for Cardiff on Monday as they beat Leeds 4-0 at Elland Road to draw level on points with Rangers at the top of the league table. This week Cardiff, like QPR did last week, face consecutive fixtures against Norwich and Swansea who are the main rivals for the top two positions. Burke said: “We are always chasing the top spot. QPR are still unbeaten in the league, so total credit to them for that. All we can do is keep knocking on the door. But we are aiming for top spot. As players we want to be in first place in the division. We are second now, but we want to be top." But QPR’s Matthew Connolly says his team mates are not feeling the pressure and know what they have to do in the coming weeks. Connolly told QPR Player: “We just need to win our games, that’s the most important thing. I think Cardiff are playing fantastically at the moment, they’ve got a good team with many striking options. We know we have to win our games and as long as we win our games we’ll stay top of the league. Every game is hard in the Championship as we saw against Bristol City.” In the interests of getting those wins after three draws in four matches Neil Warnock has spent his week working with his strikers in an effort to get the goals flowing again. QPR have Rob Hulse pushing for his first start for the club for this weekend’s game against Burnley. Warnock told the Uxbridge Gazette: “Tuesday was the first forward session we've done for weeks. We've worked on the back four every week but you never have enough time for everything. Concentrating on the defensive side has paid off, but we're struggling for goals at the minute and we felt we had to do quite a lot more this week on our forward play – getting the strikers banging in goals has been good for them. “I'm not worried about the goals. It was only Heidar Helguson not being able to get out of the road that cost us in Bristol. You just need a little bit of luck, I think. Jamie's had a few chances where he's not been quite right or he's put it wide and keepers have made good saves. That's life really, you've just got to get on with it. I'm happy with what I've got and he have players who are a handful for defenders.” Neil Warnock has also given his backing to Adel Taarabt’s plans to quit international football with Morocco. Taarabt reacted angrily to being left on the bench by his nation after a recent 22 hour round trip to Tanzania and has said this week he will stay at home and concentrate on playing for QPR for the remainder of the season. Warnock told the Ealing Gazette: “I think it's entirely an individual decision and if Adel decides he doesn't want to play for Morocco, that has to be up to him. I wouldn't try and talk him out of quitting. Obviously, though, it would be beneficial for us because there's a lot of travelling involved and I think he came back shattered after that last trip. I wondered if I should leave him out of the game against Norwich when he returned and in the first half he wasn't very good. Players react in different ways to the international break but certainly in his case, there are a lot of hours involved.” Finally the television dates continue to stack up with our home match against Coventry City now moved to a Sunday lunch time kick off for live coverage by Sky Sports. The R’s had been due to meet the Sky Blues at Loftus Road on Saturday, January 22, but will now play a day later at 1.15pm instead. It will be the second time in less than a month that the two teams meet live on Sky with the fixture at the Ricoh Arena on Tuesday, December 28, also switched to lunch time for Sky coverage. The BBC are also televising our home match with Watford on Friday, December 10, and rumours abound on the Cardiff City message boards that our home game with the Bluebirds currently scheduled for Saturday, November 27, may be brought forward to the currently vacant TV slot on the Friday evening.
Loan WatchRowan Vine is keen to extend his stay with Hull City with his one month loan deal due to end after this weekend’s round of games. Vine is yet to score in four appearances for the Tigers, stretching his run without a senior goal to more than a year, but manager Nigel Pearson has sounded him out over an extended stay at the KC Stadium. An unnamed source (yes, Hull have them too) told the Hull Daily Mail: “Rowan has been very positive about his time in Hull and there have been conversations about extending his loan deal. Nigel Pearson called him aside recently and asked Rowan if he would like to stay at Hull longer and his answer to that is certainly yes. He is hopeful that Hull and QPR can come to an agreement as he feels he is only now getting back to match fitness. He feels he will be able to get back to his best and make an impact with Hull if he stays on. What you get from Rowan is a great attitude and commitment, and he won't stand by and watch other players not doing the same."
RumoursQPR are again being linked with a move for 19-year-old centre half Sean Morrison who is currently in fine form for Swindon Town. LFW reported earlier this month that assistant manager Mick Jones had pulled out of a planned scouting mission at the County Ground for the Robins’ game against Bristol Rovers in which Morrison scored. He joined Swindon from Plymouth in 2007 and is said to be attracting interest from Newcastle ad Sunderland.
Former R’sIan Dawes has drawn comparisons between this QPR side and the one he was an ever present in that won the Second Division title in 1982/83 under Terry Venables. Dawes and goalkeeper Peter Hucker were ever present that season while the rest of the back four missed just three games between them. Dawes told the Kilburn Times: “When you look at most of the best sides, they don’t change the back four that much and I think Neil Warnock’s doing something very similar at the moment. If they’re tinkering, it tends to be with the midfield and up front. It does help if everyone in defence knows what each other’s doing and detail was a big thing for Terry Venables – he was spot on with that. “We were a youngish side, but we had a good manager – and I’d say QPR have the same now. Neil Warnock’s a good manager in that league, the best they could have at the moment. We used to do drills nearly every day in training, just on the back four, with seven, eight or nine players attacking us, and we got very good at defending. It also helped that a lot of us had played together for a while – Peter Hucker, Warren Neill and myself and Wayne Fereday – but you still have to gel as a team. “We were a hard team to beat. We knew how to knuckle down and defend and we tried to play good football, although the pitches weren’t the best in the world – not like the carpets there are now.” Clarke Carlisle scored a late equaliser for Burnley in the League Cup at Aston Villa on Wednesday night to force extra time. Sadly for the Clarets Stewart Downing scored a winner in the extra period and they now have just two days to prepare and travel to London to face Carlisle’s former club QPR this weekend. Carlisle has now scored eight goals for Burnley since joining them in 2007. He told the BBC: “We've taken a lot of pride from the match. The gaffer made six changes but we still produced a performance that warranted more. We need to go and make sure we make an equally adept account of ourselves. They're there to be shot down but every week's a test. Most teams - apart from QPR - are beating each other so why can't it be us who ends their run? We've put in some excellent performances although we haven't always got the results we deserve. We believe this weekend could be a real kick-start to our season and we want to take the pride and confidence from this result straight into the league."
Championship Shorts- Liam Rosenior has joined Hull City on trial with a view to a permanent move. Rosenior hasn’t played since leaving Reading in the summer but was part of a Hull reserve side that beat Scunthorpe 3-0 during the week. City are hoping to tie up a short term deal in time for this weekend’s televised game against Barnsley. - Two loan deals have been extended today. Iain Hume will now stay with Preston from Barnsley until December 15 while Derby will retain the services of Luke Moore from West Brom for a further four weeks. As part of the Hume deal Paul Hayes, who Preston only signed from Scunthorpe in the summer, will move to his former club Barnsley until January. - Sean O’Driscoll has been given the green light to find a replacement for striker Billy Sharp who has been ruled out for six weeks with a torn hamstring. Chairman John Ryan said: “It won't be financial restrictions, it will be more the fact can he find the right player to come and play for us. If anyone can find do it Sean can - he came up with Jordon Mutch and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas last year." - Manchester City full back Greg Cunningham says he is relishing his loan spell with Leicester. He said: “I didn't hesitate to come. There are quality full-backs here but I want to learn, gain experience and better myself. The Championship's a fantastic league, Leicester are fantastic club and I want to play as much as I can." - The Football Association of Wales has decided not to take action against Cardiff striker Jay Bothryod for his lunge on Luciano Becchio in Monday night’s win at Leeds. As referee Michael Oliver saw and dealt with the incident at the time retrospective action cannot be taken.
Parish Notice BoardPlanned tube closures for this Saturday’s game against Burnley. - The Circle Line is completely closed. - There will be no Hammersmith and City Line service between Edgware Road and Barking. - The Metropolitan Line between Baker Street and Aldgate is suspended due to track replacement works. - The Jubilee Line is entirely closed before 9.30am and between Green park and Stratford thereafter. - There is no service between Embankment and Upney (eastbound) and between Barking and Embankment (westbound) on the District Line. The QPR Supporter’s Club is hosting a fundraiser for the club’s Community Trust at the King’s Head on Uxbridge Road in Acton on Saturda after the Burnley game. The Hallowe’en Punk Rock Fright Night will feature three bands, DJs, a prize for the best fancy dress and raffle. Tickets are priced £10 or £8 for season ticket holders and members and are available on the door. Call 07931197049 for more information or to book in advance. Finally the QPR Down’s Syndrome Tiger Cubs team celebrates its second birthday this weekend, with players making a welcome return to the pitch at half time for a penalty shoot out. The team forms part of the work done by the Football in the Community Trust and is something to be genuinely proud of at Loftus Road. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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