At the end of yet another tumultuous and traumatic week at Loftus Road the players have to pick themselves up for an awkward Easter period that starts on Saturday at Burnley and ends on Monday with the visit of Sheffield Wednesday.

Burnley 6th v Queens Park Rangers 10th
Coca Cola Championship
Saturday April 11, Kick Off 3pm
Turf Moor, Burnley

When applying for jobs a term you will come up against time and time again is “self motivated”. Are you a self motivator? Can you be proactive? It’s a nice way of saying “if I go away for the week are you going to sit on Facebook and bugger off a couple of hours early every day?”

When I’m next asked that question I’m going to hold this match preview up as evidence for the defence. The figures show that in the four years I have been running this site the two Easter match previews are the least read articles of the year. Only once in my time with LFW have QPR had anything to play for at this point in the season and that apathetic, end of season feel sees people winding down for the summer rather than rushing to see what I think of Martin Paterson.

In addition there is a four day weekend so very few people are at work avoiding work by reading this and to cap it all off this season the sacking of Paulo Sousa and the latest Hull FC disaster means I’m sitting down to write this some 36 hours later than normal, and posting it nearer to 10pm than the preview’s usual 10am slot. This is also the fourth time we have played Burnley in six months and therefore the fourth time I’ve had to write about them.

I am resigned to the fact that this preview will be read only by me and possibly my brother when he opens the document on his computer’s desktop wondering what the hell it is. I’m grumpy with QPR at the moment, I think what’s happened this week is a disgrace and I’m 99 per cent certain that I’m travelling to Turf Moor tomorrow to watch us lose. Heavily. Much as I’ve enjoyed watching B urnley this year I am sick to the back teeth of writing about them and yet here I am, tapping away like some kind of moron. If ever a preview was seen to be there but not there to be seen it was this one.

So what awaits us on Saturday then? Well our team is again under the caretaker charge of Gareth Ainsworth who, as a Blackburn fan and former Preston player, will want to win this game more than most. More than many of his players I’m sure. We have a team openly confused at the situation and several players who have found out inadvertently that their previous manager didn’t rate them very much. It’s been another one of those weeks where you find yourself loving QPR and football in general a little bit less. Farce doesn’t even begin to describe this latest mess we’ve found ourselves in. “The situation at QPR is fast becoming a joke” said the Mirror journalist on Sky Sports News this morning. Never mind fast becoming, we’re already there mate. It’s never nice when the joke is on you though.

On Saturday we take this joke to Burnley with nothing to play for and to face a very good, play off chasing side on what is traditionally an unhappy hunting ground for us.

You R’s eh?! It’s rarely dull, unless it’s your job to do the match previews that is.

Two minutes on Burnley
Having used the least number of players of any Championship team this season (23) and played more games than anybody else (53) conventional logic would suggest that The Clarets should be out on their feet right about now and yet Owen Coyle’s team are coming good yet again.

They may have fought the country’s finest sides on three fronts this season and be down to their last 19 fit players for this fourth meeting of the season with QPR but Burnley come into this unbeaten in six – an achievement made even more remarkable by an unfortunate fixture list that has seen them just play three consecutive games away from home. They took two draws and a win from Derby, Plymouth and Ipswich.

All that leaves them sixth, the last play off spot, four points ahead of near neighbours Preston with five games left to play. Previously they may have been seen as a soft option in the end of season knock out but since taking over as manager Owen Coyle, a journeyman striker mainly in Scotland as a player and successful manager of St Johnston prior to his appointment here, has developed a real knack of winning one off cup ties.

Burnley, despite boasting a higher percentage of their town’s population in attendance on matchday than most other clubs in the country, are traditionally seen as a small club with low gates in this league. They have however spent some serious transfer fees in recent seasons on the likes of Ade Akinbiyi, Andy Gray, Alan Mahon and Martin Paterson. Very few of those signings have turned out to be bad ones and in Paterson and former Man Utd winger Chris Eagles they have picked up two players of genuine quality this season.

Eagles had impressed in this league previously when on loan at Watford but Paterson had hardly torn up any trees despite a decent haul of goals at Scunthorpe last season and it’s his form, repaying Coyle’s £1m faith in him, that really shows Burnley have stumbled upon a very fine manager for me. They remain the most impressive side we have played at Loftus Road this season and with this weekend representing the last of the two games in three or four day fixture patterns of the season Burnley will, for the first time in the campaign, have a run of six day breaks between matches in the run in. Far from tire them out their hectic set of fixtures seems to have given them confidence and an edge over opponents making a mockery of the rotation systems operated by the likes of Rafa Benitez.

Unless they suddenly hit the wall you’d be hard pushed to see them missing the play offs and then it’s anybody’s game – and nobody will fancy a one off knock out night at Turf Moor. Better teams than Cardiff, Reading, Sheff Utd and Birmingham have had their fingers burnt in that scenario this season.

Three to watch
Martin Paterson
Eyebrows were raised last summer when Burnley agreed to pay £1m for Scunthorpe striker Martin Paterson, not least in Scunthorpe. They had picked him up 12 months previously following their promotion into the Championship having initially spotted him playing for Grimsby Town on loan from Stoke City. The Northern Irish hitman played himself into his national side and the minds of other Championship managers with a 14 goal haul in a Scunthorpe side that was relegated straight back to League One. Still, the price seemed steep. Owen Coyle’s faith in him has been repaid and then some – he has 17 goals in all competitions including memorable goals against Spurs and West Brom in their various cup runs. A lively goal poaching type who enjoys playing with a target man he is now a well established hot property in this division and he will be the chief threat to rangers on Saturday after shaking off a knock during the week.

Wing wonders
Burnley’s attractive style of play is enhanced by the presence of two quality players in wide areas. All the talk this season has been about Chris Eagles who has excelled since joining from Man Utd for £1.5m last summer. Eagles has, for me, been the Championship player of the year this season by some considerable distance and should Burnley not make it up via the play offs in may I suspect many clubs may have him on their shopping list. Just as important though is Lee Cook look and play alike Wade Elliott on the opposite flank. One of a clutch of players signed from Bournemouth by Steve Cotterill after the teams had met in the FA Cup and somebody who regularly tops the assists chart in the Championship. While Eagles likes to cut infield and cause problems in central areas Elliott is a pure byline and cross winger. If QPR are weak in the full back areas, and they are, this will be a stiff test.

Clarke Carlisle
QPR fans will need no introductions to Burnley’s towering centre half – and that’s not just because we have played Burnley so often this season. Carlisle was signed by Gerry Francis from Blackpool for £250k ahead of the 2000/01 season and although he excelled in Hoops, and won a call up to the England Under 21 squad, Rangers were relegated and he ended the season with a horrific knee injury. He made a successful comeback 18 months later a division lower but by now had added alcohol to his nicotine habit and he had to take time away from the game while at QPR to attend the Sporting Chance clinic to address these issues. Having stood by him during that many rangers fans were a little miffed when he rejected a new contract at Loftus Road and moved to Leeds although at the time there was considerable sympathy for his desire to be closer to his family in the north. That sympathy soon dried up when just nine months later he pitched up at that well known northern outpost Watford. Burnley have got him back to something like his best since signing him from Vicarage Road and he is still a very solid and powerful presence at the heart of any defence however injuries and, dare I say, his lifestyle have knocked yards off his already mediocre pace and when placed against the really top strikers in Burnley’s cup runs this season he has often been found wanting.

Previous Meetings
QPR were here last in January in an FA Cup replay attended by one man and his dog. In an atmosphere more akin to a reserve match QPR were the better team for long periods of normal time and all of extra time before contriving to lose with the last kick. Sam Di Carmine gave Rangers the lead after Mikele Leigertwood had won possession in midfield just after half time and counter attacked. Martin Rowlands then hit the bar and Heidar Helguson had a goal disallowed with the latest offside decision ever seen before. Steve Thompson got a scruffy equaliser after a poor piece of goalkeeping by Radek Cerny to set up extra time and when QPR failed to make their possession tell penalties looked a certainty. That was until Damion Stewart made a hash of a routine long ball down the field to give Jay Rodriguez a sight of goal and, with Cerny inexplicably in no man’s land, the youngster calmly lobbed the ball towards goal and in off the post to but Burnley into the next round at West Brom.

Burnley: Jensen 8, Alexander 7, Carlisle 7, Caldwell 6, Jordan 7, Elliott 6, McCann 6 (Mahon 20, 5), Gudjonsson 6 (MacDonald 84, 6), Eagles 8, Blake 6 (Rodriguez 69, 6), Thompson 7
Subs Not Used: Penny, Kalvenes, Akinbiyi, Kay
Booked: Caldwell (foul), Mahon (foul)
Goals: Thompson 60 (assisted Gudjohnson), Rodriguez 120 (assisted Carlisle)

QPR: Cerny 4, Hall 5, Stewart 6, Gorkss 7, Delaney 5, Alberti 5, Leigertwood 8, Mahon 6 (Rose 79, 7), Rowlands 5, Ledesma 5 (Ephraim 55, 7), Di Carmine 7 (Helguson 85, 6)
Subs Not Used: Borrowdale, Crowther, Connolly, Ramage
Booked: Delaney (foul), Alberti (foul)
Goals: Di Carmine 54 (assisted Leigertwood)

Match Report

These teams contrived to produce one of the worst games of football I have ever been to in the FA Cup at Loftus Road in January. Wade Elliott hit the bar in the first half with a long range volley but that really was just about it – QPR did not manage a serious shot on the goal all afternoon, one routine save from Brian Jensen denied Sam Di Carmine in the first half but that was it. Turgid.

QPR: Cerny 6, Ramage 6, Gorkss 7, Stewart 7, Delaney 6, Rowlands 7, Leigertwood 5, Cook 5 (Ledesma 46, 5), Mahon 4 (Ephraim 61, 6), Di Carmine 5 (Agyemang 72, 5), Blackstock 4
Subs Not Used: Cole, Connolly, Alberti, Oastler

Burnley: Jensen 6, Alexander 6, Duff 7, Carlisle 8, Kalvenes 6, Eagles 6, Gudjonsson 6, Elliott 7, Blake 5 (Mahon 72, 5), Paterson 7, Thompson 6 (Rodriguez 86, -)
Subs Not Used: Penny, Akinbiyi, Kay, MacDonald

Match Report

In the corresponding league fixture this season the Clarets were simply too hot for Rangers to handle as they ran out 2-1 winners. It says a lot about the farce in W12 that I have actually had to look up who was the manager for this one, it was Gareth Ainsworth, but things actually started well when Lee Cook set up Dexter Blackstock for the opening goal after a quarter of an hour. Burnley, with Chris Eagles to the fore, were soon level though when Robbie Blake finished crisply into the top corner of the net. In the second half the win the visiting team richly deserved was secured when substitute Alan Mahon volleyed past Radek Cerny.

QPR: Cerny 6, Ramage 5, Stewart 7, Hall 6, Connolly 5 (Delaney 46, 5), Ephraim 5 (Agyemang 63, 7), Rowlands 6, Tommasi 5 (Mahon 53, 6) Cook 5, Blackstock 6, Di Carmine 5
Subs Not Used: Cole, Ledesma
Booked: Ramage (foul)
Goals: Blackstock 14 (assisted Cook)

Burnley: Jensen 7, Alexander 7, Duff 7, Carlisle 8, Jordan 7, Elliott 8, McCann 7, Gudjonsson 7, Eagles 8 (Mahon 56, 8), Blake 8 (McDonald 79, 7) Thompson 6 (Akinbiyi 84, -)
Subs Not Used: Penny, Paterson
Booked: Gudjonsson (foul), Jordan (foul), McDonald (foul)
Goals: Blake 34, Mahon 60

Match Report

Head to Head:
Burnley wins – 18
Draws – 4
QPR wins – 10

Past QPR v Burnley results:
2008/09 Burnley 2 QPR 1 (Di Carmine)
2008/09 QPR 0 Burnley 0
2008/09 QPR 1 Burnley 2 (Blackstock)
2007/08 QPR 2 Burnley 4 (Mahon, Agyemang)
2007/08 Burnley 0 QPR 2 (Stewart, Vine)
2006/07 QPR 3 Burnley 1 (Cook, Blackstock, Lomas)
2006/07 Burnley 2 QPR 0
2005/06 Burnley 1 QPR 0
2005/06 QPR 1 Burnley 1 (Ainsworth)
2004/05 Burnley 2 QPR 0
2004/05 QPR 3 Burnley 0 (Gallen, Santos, Furlong)
2000/01 Burnley 2 QPR 1 (Bignot)
2000/01 QPR 0 Burnley 1

Team News
Whether the introduction of Gareth Ainsworth as manager again will see any changes remains to be seen. Buzsaky, Rowlands and Agyemang atre long term absentees and definitely out. Rowan Vine played 20 minutes against Palace as he continues his comeback and with another week of training may push for a start. Lee Cook continues to struggle with his knee injury and told The London Informer this week that he will need to continue working on it over the summer before he can be fully back to his best. Damion Stewart was fit enough to return to the bench last weekend and may start here. Fitz Hall is out. Helguson (back) and Lopez (hamstring) are said by some agencies to have a chance of making this although many sources are writing the former off for the rest of the season.

Target man Steve Thompson who scored the equaliser in the FA Cup replay in January will miss out again – he has sat out the last three with ankle ligament damage sustained in a 5-0 home win against Nottingham Forest. Ade Akinbiyi has left the club leaving the Clarets a little thin on attacking options for this one. On loan defender Russell Anderson stepped up his comeback from knee ligament damage earlier this week but is still some way off a return. Graham Alexander was substituted last week at Derby having previously played every second of the season but his calf knock will not keep him out. Sadly from a QPR point of view Chris Eagles and Martin Paterson have both shrugged off minor knocks and will play.
Injury List

Referee
Mark Haywood from West Yorkshire takes charge of QPR for the first time in his fledgling refereeing career this Saturday. In three years on the list he has refereed at Turf Moor twice, a win and a draw for the Clarets, but his card count of 50 in 33 matches is certainly more encouraging.
Details

Elsewhere
A double bank holiday weekend means plenty of football and Sheffield United got the back to back games off to a flying start on Friday when they won 1-0 at Reading to jump into the automatic promotion spots for the first time this season. Wolves further cemented their place at the top with a 3-0 win against Southampton. On Saturday there’s a fierce local derby at Preston as North End host Blackpool with minds on opposite ends of the table.
Tony’s Easter Preview

Form
It may come as a surprise to Burnley fans preparing to welcome a managerless team to Turf Moor but QPR are actually unbeaten in their last four games. Rangers have beaten Bristol City and Swansea and drawn with Palace and Southampton recently conceding only one goal in the process. Radek Cerny has kept 18 clean sheets this season, one ahead of Bristol City’s Adriano Basso, so he will be hoping the turmoil does not see the team collapse and ruins his chances of claiming the golden glove. Rangers have won just three away games all season (Burnley have won seven) at Norwich, Blackpool and Derby and have scored a paltry 13 goals on their travels this season- only Plymouth have managed less. Can’t wait for that final home game of the season!

To illustrate just how much QPR’s away form has held us back this season Burnley are in the play off places having taken a point less than us at home this season. They too have won 11 times and lost just four – Ipswich, Barnsley, Swansea and Sheff Wed the not particularly fearsome list of sides that have taken three points from Turf Moor this season. They are unbeaten in their last six league matches since a 4-2 home hammering by Sheff Wed, they come into this game on the back of three away trips that yielded five points. Their last home game was a 5-0 victory over Nottingham Forest. The Clarets have already played 53 times this season, more than anybody else in the league, but have only used 23 players doing it.
Form Guide

Prediction
The last time Gareth Ainsworth took over in trying circumstances the team responded well to him and ground out a solid 0-0 at title chasing Reading live on Sky. QPR’s defence is so good this season, and Radek Cerny could yet claim the golden glove award for the most clean sheets in the league, that even when everything is a shambles it might still be able to hold out a talented opponent. I have to be honest though I’m fearing the worst here. The mood in the camp must be very strange and with nothing to play for against a very impressive, play off chasing Burnley side we could well have serious problems here.
Burnley 3 QPR 0

Photo: Action Images

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