QPR go into Saturday's fixture with bottom of the table Preston as overwhelming favourites, but teams have triumphed against the odds in this fixture before.

QPR (2nd) v Preston (24th)

Npower Championship >>> Saturday, November 20 >>> Kick off 3pm >>> Loftus Road, London, W12

Writing about Preston North End for LoftforWords used to be one of the hardest tasks of the season. As a steady, middle of the road, team that had been in the Championship longer than any other and never really looked like leaving through the front or back doors there was only so much to say about them. They’d always be the last team I wrote up in the pre-season previews and often I’d find myself scratching around for any sort of opinion on them into the darkness of night, long after the rest of the civilised world had turned in for some kip.

QPR have however done their bit to make Preston interesting in recent times, with some amazing moments and matches against the Lilywhites. In fact, one of my all time favourite QPR nights came against Preston at Loftus Road in 2007. Rangers, with John Gregory in charge, were fighting against relegation and had recently lost 5-0 at Southend live on the television while Preston, under Paul Simpson, had looked like play off certainties for most of the season but when this game came around, in mid March, they were starting to wobble slightly. The game had actually been due to take place in early February, but a prolonged FA Cup run by Preston saw that one cancelled and QPR fans had subsequently held onto this game in hand as if clutching a precious jewel, rather than straws, whenever the league table was assessed. Hull City captain Ian Ashbee had said he felt QPR would go down, Leeds were doing their usual “champions of Europe” bravado act and Rangers seemed doomed. The stage was well set, 11,910 people spread themselves out around Loftus Road and waited with bated breath. Breath is always bated in these situations.

It would be fair to say things didn’t start very well. David Nugent, hot property and newly capped England international, managed to plant a header wide in the opening minute after a defensive mix up left him free bang in the middle of the penalty area. But for QPR this was a do or die moment – they’d shown some willing in the build up with a draw at Derby that should have been a win and a surprise 3-1 success at Leicester but defeat in this game would have been disastrous and Gregory set the team up accordingly with an uncompromising spine of Camp, Cullip, Lomas, Bolder and Nygaard, and the R’s hung in there as best they could.

John Gregory is not a well liked man in British football circles, and indeed most people at QPR don’t really give him the time of day. But he kept that rotten team up that season against all odds, a superb achievement in my eyes and something I’ll always remember him fondly for. This night played a big part in it. The black of the night drew in and the QPR fans huddled together for warmth, the collective breath of a few thousand Londoners terrified about what the future might hold hung in the air and reflected the gleam of the floodlights. When the moment came it was pure genius.

Two average players combined to make it. Marc Nygaard, a giant Danish striker much maligned for his cumbersome playing style and persistent injury problems, found himself in an unorthodox deep lying midfield role with the ball at his feet. Such moments came around seldomly during Nygaard’s QPR career and usually came to an end mired in farce, and hamstring injuries, but on this occasion inspiration came. Perhaps the influence of injured Spaniard Inigo Idiakez had absorbed itself into Nygaard’s brain because he drew his foot back as if he had been doing it his whole career and swept the ball 50 yards down the field plum onto the chest of Dexter Blackstock. A hopeful long ball down the field this most certainly was not, we’ve seen enough of them at Loftus Road to recognise the art when we see it, although it’s impossible to rule out the likelihood that it was a complete fluke.

Blackstock was the only man in the ground not stunned. He was already on the move - chesting the ball down and working Sean St Ledger one way and then the other. Support from team mates was non-existent and belief in the stands was in short supply but Blackstock stared the long offs square in the face and let rip with all his might. The ball literally fizzed through the air, arcing like a well aimed missile high past Lonergan and into the roof of the net. It may still be travelling today had it missed, but the satisfaction and astonishment of it hitting the target was immeasurable. The script had been written, and Blackstock had delivered an Oscar winning performance.

Problem was (there’s always some sort of complication on such nights) Rangers had peaked rather too early. With a good 40 minutes still to play Preston slung on first Patrick Agyemang, and then Danny Dichio, to join a forward line that already included Nugent and Michael Ricketts. A flat front four, weighing the best part of half a tonne, to batter a fragile QPR team into submission. Cullip was immense, ignoring his total lack of knee joint to stand like a Trojan guarding the gate. Though shalt not pass. When all else failed, and thanks to people like Cullip, Bolder and Lomas it didn’t fail often, luck was on our side. A blatant penalty late in the day was waved away by referee Keith Stroud, a late free kick from the very cusp of the penalty area was drilled into the wall by Michael Ricketts, Lee Camp made an astonishing late save when it seemed our former charge Dichio was to be the man to break our hearts. It was utterly nerve shredding but ultimately orgasmic.

The feel good factor and confidence spread through the team and supporters like an infectious disease. Three days later 2,000 Rangers roared the team onto another 1-0 victory at Coventry and Luton were then vanquished at Loftus Road thanks to a last minute Paul Furlong goal. Cardiff were beaten too as Rangers finished the season in play off form, staying up with games to spare and hilariously pissing all over Stoke City’s final day promotion bonfire en route.

There have been others since then too – Gareth Ainsworth’s late miraculous run from the bench in 2008 saw the R’s score twice in injury time to take a draw from a two goal deficit and QPR repeated that trick at Deepdale last season with Adel Taarabt at his unplayable best. A 3-2 win here two years ago, almost to the day, was the finest afternoon of Paulo Sousa’s brief reign and last year’s 4-0 win on this ground was mesmerising.

But like the kid who gets a £300 Christmas present and spends most of Boxing Day playing with the box it came in, I’ll always remember that bitterly cold night when we had nothing but the professional pride of a limited group of players and the fading hopes of the diehard QPR fans who were still bothering to turn up most fondly.

Links >>> QPR prosper in the land of the giants – full match report

Five minutes on Preston

Recent History: Preston didn’t make the play offs that season, and have been in steady decline ever since. The size of their budget and average attendances mean they’re only ever likely to be a middle of the road Championship team at best, unless a superb manager comes along and the fact that they managed to get hold of first David Moyes and then Billy Davies in quick succession, both took PNE to the Championship play offs, inflated expectations to an unreasonably high level.

In fact just to stay in this division and compete has cost Preston more than they could really afford and so a summer of budget hacking was forced upon manager Darren Ferguson during the off season – resulting in the relegation haunted side we see before us today.

Paul Simpson initially seemed to be doing a good job at Deepdale but a rot set in at the tale end of the 2006/07 season where they won only one of their last eight games, including the memorable defeat at Loftus Road, to miss out on a top six berth that had seemed certain for so long. With Nugent sold to Portsmouth during the summer Simpson staked his job on replacing him with Karl Hawley, a plodding lower league striker who served him well at Carlisle United but was never likely to be good enough to fill Nugent’s sizeable boots.

Simpson was sacked midway through the following campaign and replaced by Everton assistant boss Alan Irvine. Although he had never held a senior managerial position before Irvine came highly recommended by Deepdale legend David Moyes and the club had enjoyed success with Scottish managers previously in the recent past so it seemed like a nice fit. Indeed Irvine seemed to be doing a fine job for the first 18 months of his employment in this part of the world – securing safety in his first season with clever manipulation of the loan market and an ability to get more from the group of players than Paul Simpson had ever managed, and then making the play offs in his first full season in charge.

QPR fans no doubt remember the dramatic nature of Preston’s qualification for the knockout in 2009 very well. The odds were heavily stacked against Preston making it five games out from the end of the season but a stunning six goal thrashing of Cardiff at Deepdale closed the goal difference between the two sides and damaged Cardiff’s confidence beyond repair. The Welsh side, as they have been prone to do in recent years and will hopefully do so again after Christmas, completely imploded and lost their final game of the season against a poor Sheffield Wednesday team that was merely playing out meaningless fixtures waiting for the summer to role around. That opened the door for Preston and although QPR did put up some resistance, Patrick Agyemang’s equaliser looked like being a heartbreaker for a little while, a Sean St Ledger goal from a long throw settled the final game of the season and meant that Preston qualified for the play offs by just a single goal from Cardiff having finished level on points and goal difference. Had Cardiff only lost 5-0 at Deepdale instead of six, they would have qualified instead. You shouldn’t laugh, but then it is Cardiff.

Sadly there was a case of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ about their semi final against Sheffield United which they lost rather meekly – a tie notable only for the failed post match drug test by Sheff Utd keeper Paddy Kenny who subsequently served a nine month ban and moved to Loftus Road.

Preston’s decision to sack Irvine midway through last season with the team in a poor run of form but still in the midtable area seemed unduly harsh and hasty – although Irvine hasn’t done much since with Sheffield Wednesday to suggest he is any great loss. In came Darren Ferguson who had himself been sacked earlier in the season by Peterborough United as they scraped along the bottom of the Championship league table. That sacking too seemed rather unfair, Ferguson had promoted the Posh up two levels in the first place, but apart from a personally satisfying 1-0 win at London Road on his first return Preston’s results at the end of last season were unremarkable (to put it kindly) and they finished in 17th. It’s hard to imagine them doing any worse had Irvine stayed in charge, although I’m happy to be told differently by any visiting Preston fan.

And then the cost cutting began. Preston is currently being run by Maurice Lindsay, the uncompromising former owner of Wigan Rugby League Club. Lindsay was famous for riding roughshod over the Rugby League authorities during his time with the Cherry and Whites, doing pretty much as he pleased and bending the rules to suit. In 2006 with Wigan facing an unthinkable relegation from Super League Lindsay dispensed with the salary cap regulations and after spending a hefty six figure salary to pinch coach Brian Noble from Bradford allowed an unprecedented six weeks of spending that saw stars like Michael Dobson and Stuart Fielden arrived at the JJB Stadium. They smashed the salary cap to pieces, they cheated basically, but Lindsay knew that any punishment would be applied the following year and so when they were eventually docked a record eight points the horse had well and truly bolted – Castleford were the unfortunate team relegated instead.

At Preston things are rather different. They are owned by 75 year old multi millionaire Trevor Hemmings – a North End fan and director since the 1970s, but nevertheless not somebody who seems overly keen to plough much serious money into the club. Without cash handouts like the ones that allow us to sustain our current squad, and with dwindling gates that were already at the lower end of the Championship averages, North End are skint. Lindsay says Hemmings has put in £13m to keep the club going, but it still faced the customary winding up order over unpaid taxes last season. He arrived to find the club had 19 leased cars, and a wage bill in excess of £10m. he hopes to bring that down to £6.5m and in doing so has overseen the departures of Neil Mellor, Ross Wallace, Liam Chilvers, Stephen Elliott, Darren Carter, Richard Chaplow, Chris Sedgwick and Neill Collins from a squad that was only good enough for 17th last season with that little lot playing. Arrivals have been meagre in quality and number, and one of the main arrivals in the summer Paul Hayes has already been loaned out to Barnsley to balance the books and allow Iain Hume to stay on loan.

Lindsay told the BBC in September that the signings they did make in the summer (Hayes, David Gray from Man Utd, Darel Russell from Norwich, Craig Morgan from Peterborough and Leicester’s disgraced captain Wayne Brown) were “pushing the boat out” but reality seems to have struck this week and three decent loan signings have now been made.

At the moment Preston’s future looks bleak, on and off the pitch, which would be a shame for countless reasons but mainly because their fabulous Deepdale home was only recently completed on all four sides. Could the longest running stay in the Championship be about to come to an end?

The Manager: Having Ferguson as a surname doesn’t seem to have hindered Darren too much so far in his career. It’s doubtful he would have been trusted with the Peterborough job so early in his career and so soon after their takeover by Darragh MacAnthony had he been anybody else’s son, and he’s never been too shy or proud to go cap in hand to his dad for a loan or three – Ritchie De Laet the latest temporary move from Old Trafford to one of his teams.

So far I would say the jury is firmly out on his abilities as a manager in his own right. The work he did initially at Peterborough was impressive. Yes, he was backed by money other managers in the bottom two divisions could only dream of and Notts County showed last season that even if your boardroom is a complete farce and you rattle through four or five managers in a season a little money will paper over many cracks in League Two. But to his credit he didn’t go out and spend it on fallen Premiership stars that everybody had heard of looking for a final pay day – he scouted well, and showed tremendous judgement of players, to pick up people like Craig Mackail Smith, Aaron McLean and George Boyd from the non-league pyramid.

Following his sacking last season, with Peterborough sitting bottom of the league, I remember writing on here that he had become a victim of his own success. He had promoted Peterborough too far, too soon and been caught out – he’d been too good, too quickly, and he should have been given another crack at League One this season. Mark Cooper and then Jim Gannon did nothing to improve Posh’s fortunes so they wouldn’t have done any worse by sticking with him, but an argumentative attitude (who could possibly know where he gets that from) meant frequent clashes with his equally fiery chairman and an untenable position. A victim of circumstances? Maybe, but I also remember writing that the Peterborough side he built last season was “all trinkets and no tree” – lots of attractive decorative pieces like Boyd and Tommy Rowe, but no real spine to the team to support and supply them. Peterborough were soft as shit last season.

Ferguson now finds himself bottom of this league again. Now once more, there are extenuating circumstances. Preston are short of cash and had a yard sale in the summer where a whole host of players left without ever really being replaced. But doubts must surely hang over whether Ferguson can actually manage at this level. His stock couldn’t have been higher 18 months ago when Reading and QPR both wanted him to manager their clubs, now he may struggle to find a taker in this league if he is fired again and the dreaded vote of confidence has come his way this week.

Three to watch: It’s normally at this point that I mention Jon Parkin and make a few wise-cracks about him being built like a professional darts player. However, although he will undoubtedly pose the biggest threat to QPR on Saturday, we’ve done that one to death now so let’s pick three others.

Michael Tonge heads the list of three loan signings made this week by Darren Ferguson. Neil Warnock will be very familiar with Tonge having managed him at Sheffield United where he came through the ranks as a junior. Like so many players, Tonge played the best football of his career under Warnock and starred in the Blades team that reached the FA Cup and League Cup semi finals in the same season. United found themselves playing Liverpool in a two legged semi final that season, and Tonge was repeatedly linked with a move to Anfield at that time.

He’s since slipped back slightly and although he did eventually make it to the Premiership when Stoke bought him in 2008 he has since turned into one of those yo-yo players – not really good enough for the top flight, but a bit too good for this division. Stoke have had a few like this in recent times, Danny Pugh is another and he too has joined Preston on loan this week. Tom Soares springs to mind as another, and I’m sure Jon Walters will be viewed the same way in time.

Tonge, who has been here on loan before, will undoubtedly improve this Preston side that looked bloody awful in defeat against Hull last Friday.

For an example of how confidence can drain from a player, and the subsequent reaction to that, look no further than defender Sean St Ledger. He played superbly for PNE when they made the play offs under Alan Irvine, even going up from the back to score the crucial goal that got them there against QPR at Deepdale. He won a call up to the Republic of Ireland squad and joined big spending Middlesbrough last August ahead of a permanent move in January. In the end, thanks to a managerial change at the Riverside, that deal fell through and St Ledger is chronically out of form at the moment. Hi atrocious back pass let Gary O’Connor in for a last minute winner for Barnsley at Deepdale last week and QPR’s high tempo pressing game could easily harry him into further errors this weekend.

Goalkeeper Andy Lonergan is loved by the Preston fans and admired by other sides, with West Brom sniffing round for most of the summer before taking Bo Myhill from Hull City instead. The Baggies were willing to pay £1m for the keeper, who was named Preston’s Player of the Year last season. Quite why that is may be unclear to the average QPR fan who only sees Preston twice a season because he always seems to have an absolute nightmare against us conceding soft goals and looking dodgy under crosses. He’s obviously not a bad keeper, because the people that watch him every week rate him, but here’s hoping he keeps up his poor form against Rangers this Saturday.

Links >>> Preston official website >>> Preston Message Board >>> Weekend Tube Closures

History

Recent Meetings: Adel Taarabt, promised an early substitution and trip home to France if he played well, was at his imperious best at Deepdale last season as Rangers battled back from two down to draw, and almost win. Static defending cost the R’s the opening goal before half time when Billy Jones had time for two touches and a finish in the area after Ross Wallace’s low free kick made it right through the box. Then after half time further defensive hesitancy allowed Jon Parkin in behind Kaspars Gorkss and when he was subsequently wrestled to the ground a penalty was the obvious result – Callum Davidson almost ripped the net off the back of the posts with the kick. So far so predictable, but then Taarabt started to play. He mesmerised the Preston defence time after time after time teeing up identical goals for first Peter Ramage and then Tamas Priskin before laying in Rowan Vine for what should have been a certain winner – Vine cleared the bar with his shot.

Preston: Lonergan 8, Jones 7, St. Ledger 6, Ward 5, Davidson 5, Wallace 6, James 7, Chaplow 6, Carter 6 (Sedgwick 59, 7), Mellor 6, Parkin 7 (Brown 71, 6)

Subs Not Used: Henderson, Hart, Mawene, Chilvers, Barton

Booked: Carter (foul), Chaplow (kicking ball away), St. Ledger (foul), Mellor (foul)

Goals: Jones 37 (assisted Wallace), Davidson 56 (penalty)

QPR: Ikeme 8, Ramage 7, Stewart 5, Gorkss 5, Hill 5, Faurlin 6, Leigertwood 7, Priskin 6, Ephraim 7, Taarabt 9 (Buzsaky 90), German 6 (Vine 46, 7)

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Cook, Balanta, Tosic, Oastler

Booked: Hill (repetitive fouling), Taarabt (kicking ball away)

Goals: Ramage 57 (assisted Taarabt), Priskin 66 (assisted Taarabt)

Rangers hammered Preston 4-0 at Loftus Road last season in the much talked about run of free scoring performances that sent us soaring up as high as fourth in the league at one stage. Prior to the game much of the talk was about the season ending injury suffered by Martin Rowlands on international duty during the week but all the post game reaction revolved around a tremendous performance, and outstanding opening goal from Adel Taarabt. Collecting a skewed clearance from Radek Cerny inside his own half Taarabt turned and run past four Preston players before curling an unstoppable shot into the corner from 25 yards out. Rangers were the better side throughout but the game was well contested until Taarabt won a penalty on the hour, Akos Buzsaky slammed in the second, and Preston imploded. A defensive mistake by Youl Mawene let Jay Simpson in for a third and Wayne Routledge fired a fourth in from long range in the face of meagre defending in front of him.

QPR: Cerny 8, Ramage 8, Stewart 8, Gorkss 8, Borrowdale 8,Routledge 9 (Ainsworth 87, -), Buzsaky 9 (Agyemang 76, 8), Mahon 8, Faurlin 8, Taarabt 9, Simpson 8 (Vine 77, 6)

Subs Not Used: Heaton, Hall, Alberti, Harris

Goals: Taarabt 11 (assisted Cerny), Buzsaky 63 (penalty), Simpson 74 (assisted Buzsaky), Routledge 85 (assisted Faurlin)

Preston: Lonergan 8, Hart 4, Mawene 4, Collins 5, Jones 3, Chaplow 4, Wallace 6, Sedgwick 5 (Parry 64, 5), Shumulikoski 5 (Carter 65, 5), Brown 5 (Parkin 65, 5), Mellor 5

Subs Not Used: Henderson, Chilvers, Nolan, Elliott.

Head to Head >>> QPR wins 9 >>> Draws 13 >>> Preston wins 11

Previous Results

2009/10 Preston 2 QPR 2 (Priskin, Ramage)

2009/10 QPR 4 Preston 0 (Taarabt, Buzsaky, Simpson, Routledge)

2008/09 Preston 2 QPR 1 (Agyemang)

2008/09 QPR 3 Preston 2 (Helguson 2, Blackstock)

2007/08 QPR 2 Preston 2 (Blackstock, Ainsworth)

2007/08 Preston 0 QPR 0

2006/07 QPR 1 Preston 0 (Blackstock)

2006/07 Preston 1 QPR 1 (Ainsworth)

2005/06 QPR 0 Preston 2

2005/06 Preston 1 QPR 1 (Shittu)

2004/05 QPR 1 Preston 2 (Furlong)

2004/05 Preston 2 QPR 1 (Santos)

2000/01 Preston 5 QPR 0

2000/01 QPR 0 Preston 0

Played for Both - Gareth Ainsworth

Preston 1991-1995 & 2002 >>> QPR 2003-2010

Wild Thing first spread his wings at Preston, beginning his career at Deepdale. Like at many of the clubs Ains has played for he was a big fans’ favourite at North End in two different spells at the club. After scoring fourteen goals in just under four seasons at Preston, Gareth moved to Lincoln where he was such a cult hero he came fourth in a poll to find the 100 best players to play for the Imps. Two seasons at Port Vale followed before Ains got his big move to the Premier League with a £2 million transfer to Wimbledon. Unfortunately injuries hampered his career with the Dons and found himself struggling for a first team place. Craig Brown brought him back to Preston on loan and it looked like a permanent transfer was on the horizon until Gareth chose Cardiff instead.

He only lasted one season in Wales and in 2003 signed for QPR and he got off to the perfect start with two goals in an opening day 5-0 romp against Blackpool. That was followed up a month later with two of the greatest goals to ever come off a QPR boot in the 3-3 draw with Rushden and Diamonds. Over the next seven Gareth would become one of the most popular players at Loftus Road and build a real bond with both the fans and the club – serving as player, coach and caretaker manager.

Ainsworth is the sort of player everybody would want at their club – talented, whole hearted and hard working. He scored some spectacular goals at QPR and won the hearts of the fans with his all round attitude to the game. It seemed he was destined for a permanent coaching career at Loftus Road when he started to move into that with Iain Dowie, Gigi De Canio and Paulo Sousa but he felt he still had plenty of football left in him and is now winning hearts and minds at Wycombe in League Two. A true, modern day QPR legend – a man who once tried to “run off” a spiral fracture of his leg.

Links >>> Preston 2 QPR 2 Match Report >>> QPR 4 Preston 0 Match Report >>> Connections and Memories

This Saturday

Team News: Bring your boots this Saturday and you might get a game. QPR are definitely without Bradley Orr and Shaun Derry through suspension but Matt Connolly returns from his one match ban. Heidar Helguson will have a late fitness test after missing the last four matches and Rangers will also leave it as late as possible to assess Kyle Walker’s ankle injury. Mikele Leigertwood isn’t due back from international duty until Friday night so may only make the bench leaving Gavin Mahon and Martin Rowlands to contest Derry’s midfield position. Adel Taarabt has a groin injury but should be fit. Peter Ramage and Lee Cook are long term absentees. Nobody seems sure whether Tommy Smith can play or not – his three separate one month loan deals from Portsmouth are structured so he can be available over Christmas prior to signing in January and there had been a suggestion that the inform front man would have to sit this game out as it falls between two of the spells.

Preston have three debutants ready to boost their flagging season. Michael Tonge and Danny Pugh have arrived on loan from Stoke, Ritchie De Laet has come in from Man United and all three are expected to start.

Elsewhere: It’s a full set of Saturday fixtures in the Championship this weekend although the dire looking encounter between Sheffield United, who can’t score, and Crystal Palace, who can barely play the game at all, is televised at 5.20pm. Most QPR eyes will be on Cardiff I suspect, they host Nottingham Forest, while third placed Swansea go to Doncaster and neither game could be described as a gimme. The game of the day looks to be Norwich against Leeds, both teams like to score and concede a lot of goals and they’re both up around the play off picture. Derby have a decent chance to cement their place in the play off picture with a home fixture against Scunthorpe but just seven points separate the Rams in fourth and the Iron in 18th highlighting how tight the league is. Ipswich, 12th, can actually climb six places into the play offs if they beat Hull at the KC Stadium.

Referee: David Phillips is the man in the middle for this match – his one and only QPR match to date was the 2-1 home win against Bristol City on Boxing Day last year during Paul Hart’s mercifully brief reign at Loftus Road. This is his first ever Preston appointment. More details here.

Form

QPR: Rangers looked like they may tear away at the top of the league in August and September as they built up a six point lead at the top of the table, but they have since been reeled in and overhauled by Cardiff thanks to a series of drawn games – Rangers have tied seven of their last nine games including their last two. That isn’t the disaster some would have you believe – the message boards remain a sea of overreaction after every stalemate and the claim on one blog today that draws are “crippling” our challenge seems a little over the top (possible deliberately) considering we are still second and unbeaten in 17 matches. Two points a game wins you promotion, and if Rangers win here they will be ahead of that schedule. At Loftus Road this season Millwall, Burnley and Norwich have escaped with draws, but five others have been well beaten and nobody has won. Only Shane Long has scored from open play in the Bush for a visiting team this season, and that was mere consolation in a 3-1 defeat.

Preston: In general, Preston are in dreadful form, but their dire start to the season has been punctuated with some remarkable games, and big hauls of goals. PNE have won just two of their last nine matches – but those wins came in the form of a 4-3 win at home to Crystal Palace when they had been 4-1 up, and a 6-4 win at Leeds when they had been 4-1 down before half time. Throw in a 4-3 defeat at Burnley where they were 3-1 up but conceded on 84, 86 and 90 to lose, a 4-0 defeat to Swansea and 5-0 win at Stockport within three days of each other in August and it’s clear that this is a team that can ship and score goals in equal measure. In fact Preston’s 12 goals scored away from home this season is a better record than third placed Swansea, fourth placed Derby and sixth placed Leeds – artificially raised by that game at Leeds though it is. Their other away win in the league this season was at Coventry 2-1 in September. In their last four games they have lost to Leicester, Barnsley and Hull (1-0, 2-1, 2-0) and drawn with Bristol City 1-1.

Prediction: I try to shy away from predicting QPR wins because it seems to curse us, and with three new loan signings and little to lose this Saturday Preston could be quite dangerous, especially with the Loftus Road crowd no doubt turning up expecting a comfortable win and QPR suffering from quite a few injuries and suspensions. But as we’re second and unbeaten in 17 and they’re bottom with only two away wins all season it would be impossible for me to do anything other than tip the home side here. It’s a real coupon buster waiting to happen though.

QPR -1 in the handicap, 11/10 with Sky Bet

Photo: Action Images

richranger added 15:12 - Nov 19 Great article as usual Clive. I remember the 2007 Preston game with the same pride as you. We were immense that day. I also share your views on John Gregory. We were so skint that, on some occasions, he had to pay the players hotel bills out of his own pocket. Keeping us up that year was a great achievement and pretty much saved the club. I doubt Flav and co would have been interested in a League One club.

0

YorkRanger added 16:05 - Nov 19 Yes Clive - that Preston game is a great memory. Night games at Loftus Rd are normally a struggle for me but I found myself in London on business (having managed the diary carefully) and remember a great atmosphere - with heroics and nerves in equal measure at the end of the game as our back four faced ball after ball pumped into the area. A great goal from Blackstock and I'll always remember Nugent for that early miss when it looked easier to score.

0

JB007007 added 22:24 - Nov 19 Great review Clive, Memories eh. I remember going up to the Derby game and Rowly giving us that early lead. Derby were around top spot at the time and you wouldn't have known who was struggling at the bottom that night. A great end to that season particularly the Furs header against Luton. I hope we dont come unstuck tomorrow and I cant stand Ferguson Jnr or Senior, they are nothing but Scottish thugs.

0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Queens Park Rangers Polls