It’s been a largely tedious seven days to be following QPR around the country, but that could turn into a really positive week if they can add a victory over big spending Wrexham at Loftus Road to the ground out points from the two away games.

QPR (11-7-10 LLWLDD 12th) v Wrexham (10-11-7 WWWLD 9th)

Sky’s Super Saturday Brunch Spectacular >>> Saturday January 24, 2026 >>> Kick Off 15.00 >>> Weather – It’s finally going to stop raining for a while allegedly >>> Loftus Road, London, W12

When I rolled into Euston station last Saturday morning to find several thousand plastic London Liverpool and Man Utd fans packed in like computer parts being shipped from Japan, anda departure board promising no trains for the next two hours, I suspected this week may not be my week.

Dutifully, QPR have really brought that ball ache to life. The thick end of 450 miles on the road, interminably delayed and overcrowded trains, soaked to the skin and bored rigid by 180+ minutes of steadfastly scoreless football. It has been, needless to say, a really long week on the road and QPR are now at one win in ten away games in which they’ve never scored more than once and failed to score at all on four occasions. I’m not sure about the wisdom

It's very easy to come out of games like that Oxford one on Tuesday, where you’re playing just about as bad a team as you’ll face all season and yet apparently unable to even pass a ball five yards to one another never mind have a reasonably dangerous effort on goal, and be over the top frustrated and angry about it. Social media is lethal for these rant in haste, regret at leisure on the whistle reactions but it was an utterly grim watch, and anybody pretending otherwise isn’t telling you the truth.

Of the calmer takes, a couple stuck out, one from pre-game on our Patreon Podcast and one from among the replies I got on the dreaded Twitter. The first is that we’re simply a team missing a lot of players injured at the moment, including our top scorer and some of our most creative supply lines, and on our budget you can’t really afford to miss seven or eight players at a time and maintain levels. Put Burrell and Chair back in the team we probably win comfortably at the Kassam. The other was that we’re a midtable team doing midtable things: good runs and bad runs of form over time largely driven by fitness and fixture congestion all equalling out in the end to the middle of the road finish that was almost universally accepted last summer as representing a good season of solid progress. It is, as the kids say, not that deep.

Tomorrow’s home game against Wrexham, ostensibly a newly promoted team but not behaving or spending like one, is another timely reminder of what we’re up against in this league. This lot are clearing Premier League levels of sponsorship and revenue and having spent what TransferMarkt.com conservatively estimates to be around £35m on players in the summer are now linked with Angers forward Sidiki Cherif for a cool £19m. QPR, meanwhile, are taking a punt on a lad Coventry had out on loan at Lincoln because FotMob says he’s quite like Rumarn Burrell.

If you’d been told at the end of a fairly disastrous August that we’d be top half of the table and three points from the play-offs at this point I’m sure you’d have been pleased with that/calling for the funny farm to take away whoever was speaking. It’s worth repeating, we are well in touch with the play-offs with key players to return for the run in. Rangers are only a point behind the Red Dragons so will go above them with a win tomorrow at Loftus Road, where the R’s have won five of the last six games and scored 16 times doing it.

There is another theme from that traumatic start resurfacing at the moment though. The way the transfer windows are structured, and QPR’s ‘last dog at the bowl’ role within them means we often have to wait until we come back from the international break in September to know what our team is actually going to look like. That was certainly the case this year – our season preview would have read very differently had it been written after Kone, Burrell, Saito, Hayden, Norrington Davies et al had signed as opposed to before. It’s not the same in January, but there are some weird little bits and pieces going on.

QPR have signed Ronnie Edwards, at considerable expense (the most we’ve spent on a player in a decade), but are not picking him despite having no qualms about slinging him straight in this time a year ago when he again arrived having played no football at all for Southampton just prior. Rumarn Burrell is injured, Richard Kone is struggling, but Michael Frey is no longer even making the bench. I’m certainly not pining for Frey given how he’s played this season, but that seems odd, no? Likewise, Sam Field’s total lack of involvement, which would seem to contradict the manager’s constant references to fatigue, injuries and inability to rotate. Both Frey and Field have been linked with moves away. It does feel, once again, like we’re in a bit of a state of flux until after the Coventry game when everyone will know where they are we’ll again know what cards we’re holding between now and May.

To some extent, in that situation the manager is just working with what he’s got and grinding out results. Joe Walsh has made a steady return, Jimmy Dunne is playing out of his skin, Steve Cook has rolled back time again, and it’s three clean sheets in a row. That will happen when you have two good, experienced centre backs standing on top of the goalkeeper – difficult to break down. It does, however, undoubtedly affect us going forwards, because they’re not as adept at playing out as Jake Clarke-Salter or Edwards. They haven’t got good wide players to hit either – playing out to Ilias Chair is very different to playing out to Karamoko Dembele, particularly the way he’s playing presently – and the whole team’s out ball is missing because we don’t have a striker who runs in behind like Burrell does. Hence Obikwu, potentially. We said after Middlesbrough and Norwich away that Stephan should have stodged it up a bit, been more pragmatic, to stop us shipping goals and getting beaten so easily, now he’s done that and we’re drawing 0-0 we don’t like this form of stodge. Well, alright Goldilocks, you run the bloody hot plate.

Still, as we look ahead to next season, when we’ll hope to progress up the league again, this period is raising two key questions for me.

The first is why do we have so many injuries again, just as we did last season. You can trot out all the stats you like, you can say our availability is 10% better than it ever has been before, you can sling the U13s and the women’s team in there to pad the stats, you can talk about how we ran further than West Ham, you can say hamstrings are breaking across the sport and every team in the Championship has injuries… it’s not going to help us long term. The team is currently not functioning because it is missing the players it needs to do so. If we get to next January missing eight+ first teamers again, it will look like this again. Next season starts two weeks later because of the World Cup, which will mean extra midweek rounds, and there will be four games over Christmas again just like this year. So, what are we learning?

The second is, what is Stéphan’s plan if this plan doesn’t work? I loved how proactive and purposeful he was in the wake of the Coventry debacle, promising it would be different the following week and completely pivoting the team’s style, approach, formation and game model. At Sheff Wed when the first half was poor he made three half time changes. Now he’s gone completely the other way, to the point he often doesn’t use our full bench, and waits very late with the subs he does make, even when we’re supposed to be horribly fatigued and suffering from the schedule. The 4-4-2, inverted wingers, two up top, without Burrell, does not presently look to suit many of the players in it. Players we’re meant to be developing like Dembele and Kone are having a tough time, the likes of Kolli and Bennie who are being asked to cosplay Burrell’s role are struggling to do so, the centre backs are playing superbly defensively but we can’t progress the ball out from there. At the moment it’s the old Warbs Warburton “plan B is doing plan A better” – we just go out the following game in the same shape and repeat all the same failures. What else could we be doing? Taking care of the football, Nick, for one.

It's an interesting one tomorrow. Win, and it suddenly becomes a good week. Potentially four consecutive clean sheets, six out of seven wins at home, well in touch with the play-offs with all these injured players still to come back. Lose and it’s one win in eight, potentially three games without scoring, some pretty mediocre sides disappearing into the distance to compete for the six without us.

At the very least, please God, let it be better than the other two games I’ve sat through this week.

Links >>> Oxford Awayday – Patreon Podcast >>> Obikwu brings familiar profile – Signing >>> Meteoric rise – Oppo Profile >>> Gallen’s late strike – History >>> Old head – Referee >>> Official Website >>> Racecourse Ground – Stadium Guide >>> Red Passion – Forum >>> RobRyanRed – Podcast >>> Racecourse Ramble – Podcast >>> Wrexham Insider – Blog >>> Wrexham Leader – Local Press

Below the fold

Team News: We wait to see whether Ronnie Edwards will make his second QPR debut at the third time of asking. There’s growing online clamour for him to do so to help the defence play the ball out more effectively, but Steve Cook and Jimmy Dunne are two of the few currently playing well and the side has three straight clean sheets in the league. Edwards started the season in the Southampton side and was given a torrid time by Kieffer Moore and Wrexham, conceding a penalty in a game Phil Parkinson’s team lead and really should have won but contrived to lose in stoppage time - those three of 20 points Disney FC have surrendered from winning positions this season.

Harvey Vale made a brief comeback from his back problem at Oxford, and put a devilish late cross in which Daniel Bennie really should have won the game with at the death. Other than him, though, there’s apparently no chance that any of Jake Clarke-Salter, Ilias Chair, Jonathan Varane, Kwame Poku, Koki Saito or, now, Esquerdinha might be back in time for this. The latter’s injury is not as serious as it looked at the time and may only sideline him for a fortnight. Rumarn Burrell and Ziyad Larkeche are long term and certainly won’t be. Justin Obikwu can play if the manager wants to sling him in straight away.

Elsewhere: Friday night in the Mercantile Credit Trophy means, of course, we must all sit down and watch West Bromwich Albion again – six Friday night Sky games and counting. Mind you, given things have gone from a bit ropey and unlucky under Ryan Mason to totally out of control under Eric Ramsay this might be worth a watch. An extraordinary 5-0 home defeat to Norwich during the week (xG 1.34 v 0.84) means the Baggies are now 19th, one point above the improving Canaries and only three outside the drop zone on a run of four straight losses. A trip to Derby probably isn’t ideal either – West Brom have won one of 32 games here since the war, D12 L19 with the lone victory coming in 2003.

Just the two games suffering the Saturday lunchtime kick offs, led by third placed Middlesbrough v Preston Knob End in sixth. Boro can go second with a win here with Ipswich playing later and have won their last three league games scoring nine goals in the process. Kim Hellberg has won seven of his 11 league games in charge and they’re the only team in the league yet to drop a point from a winning position. The long awaited Presdton tumble may now, finally, be underway – three straight defeats without a goal and everybody’s favourite canabal/racist/dangerous driver Milutin Osmajic has been winning friends and influencing people again with a Glasgow kiss red card against Hull in the week.

There’s a London derby between Millwall and Charlton as well which looks a bit of a forgone conclusion on paper – Wawll with one defeat in ten at home, Addicks with no wins in eight away. Sure The Den will take well to Nathan Jones.

Leaders Coventry don’t play until Monday when they travel to Norwich, a side they haven’t beaten in 11 attempts, which means Ipswich have a chance to close the eight-point gap with a victory on Saturday afternoon at Sheff Utd. The Tractor Boys are doing that Scott Parker January thing of spending big money on players they don’t need, won’t play, and will look to immediately move on upon promotion – Bristol City’s Anis Mehmeti the man furthering his career with six months of bench sitting.

The City side he leaves behind haven’t won or scored in three games since beating Portsmouth 5-0 on New Year’s Day. Gerhard Struber aint happy: “We have eight outgoings and two players in. The balance is not on the right level. Everyone knows that. We have to do something. The time is close right now. It's a big responsibility, not only for me but much more from the management." They should correct that at home to whipping boys Sheff Wed, but the storyline there is very much in the visiting team’s dressing room where Barry Bannan is said to be playing his last game for the club after 476 appearances over more than a decade. Linked again with Millwall, knowing our luck he’ll join bloody Coventry and make a debut next week. Wednesday are on the club's longest-ever winless run – 21 games.

There’s a game between two surprise packages as Hull face Swansea. I had the former down for relegation after a tumultuous summer of transfer embargoes and FA charges but the Tigers are 21 points better off than this time last year and have won six of the last eight league games. Only Ipswich can match their points total since the start of December. They’re a real one in the eye for the “underlying numbers” brigade as well, because looking at many of those metrics they’re supposed to be bottom three. That’s where I thought Swansea might end up when they replaced Alan Sheehan with Vitor Matos, but here they are now with six wins out of ten after five straight defeats.

You’d think Marti Cifuentes would do well to survive a Leicester home loss to Oxford. The Foxes have won just two of their last seven games, only Sheff Wed and West Brom have conceded more goals, and they’re without a clean sheet in 22 league games. Oxford, meanwhile, have drawn both games under new boss Matt Bloomfield 0-0.

Birmingham v Stoke – rather you than me. Blackburn v Watford, the home supporters are now arranging a mass boycott to try and twist the Venky’s arm further behind their back. Mind you, for those who’ve been to Ewood Park recently, would you really notice any difference? Currently a point from safety they face only a second season in the third tier in the last 47 years.

If you’re paying God only knows what for a Sky subscription I’m sure you’ll be delighted to find the first Fratton Park league meeting between Portsmouth and Southampton since 2011 getting the basic three camera red button treatment tomorrow while Sky Sports Football shows London City v Man City from the WSL instead – a game that’s already being shown on Sky Showcase. Sky Sports+, meanwhile, is showing… WSL Multiview.

Referee: Experienced Championship official Oliver Langford takes the 31st QPR game of his long career – no club has had this official more. By contrast, Wrexham have only been refereed by him once. Details.

Form

- It’s been a tedious week on the road with QPR who have drawn their last two games 0-0. Rangers have three points from their last six away games and have won only one of nine matches on their travels (Blackburn A). Prior to that run the R’s had the best away record in the league with seven wins and only two defeats from 12 games going back to April.

- That does mean it’s three league games without conceding for QPR, including the 3-0 home win against Sheff Wed, and they can record four consecutive clean sheets in the Championship for the first time since shut outs against Cardiff, Watford, Norwich and Oxford last December.

- QPR have won only one of the last seven games in all comps, and that against divisional whipping boy Sheff Wed. The R’s have scored one goal or fewer in six of the last seven, and none in the last two.

- However, the QPR have won five of the last six league games at Loftus Road and scored 16 goals in the process.

- Wrexham were the only Championship side to win all four of their Christmas fixtures, and followed that up with a 3-3 draw and penalty shoot out win against Premier League Nottm Forest in the FA Cup. They have dropped points in two home games this week though, losing 2-1 to Norwich and drawing 1-1 against Leicester.

- Wrexham have won each of their last two away league games at Derby (2-1) and Blackburn (2-0) and will be looking to win three in succession in the second tier of English football for the first time. Phil Parkinson’s side have lost only three of their last 18 league games.

- Wrexham have lost 20 points from winning positions this season, the division’s worst record. Conversely, they have the best away defence in the league, conceding just 13 goals.

- QPR won the corresponding fixture 3-1 and can complete a first double of the season with a win here. Rangers have won their last four games against the Red Dragons but the teams haven’t met at Loftus Road since 2004 when the promotion-bound R’s won 2-0 with late goals from Clarke Carlisle and Kevin McLeod.

- Wrexham haven’t won on this ground since 1980 but there have only been four meetings here in that time. They have won just two of their nine away league games against QPR in club history, winning 2-1 in September 1962 and 1-0 in October 1980.

- Sam Smith has scored nine goals in his last 16 league starts, netting in each of his last three in a row. He was 16 appearances without a goal before this recent run though.

- Kieffer Moore, who scored in the first meeting, is Wrexham’s top scorer with ten in the league and 12 in all comps. Rumarn Burrell is top scorer for QPR, the first player to reach ten goals in a season for the R’s since Andre Gray in 2021/22, but is now out until March.

- - Rayan Kolli is the first ever QPR player to score two goals as a substitute in two different games – Norwich H 24/25, Sheff Wed H 25/26. @JTSupple

Prediction

In our Prediction League for 2025/26 we’ll once again be handing out prizes for being top at Christmas and overall winner from The Art of Football - sample the merch from our sponsor’s newly extended QPR collection here. Monners was the big mover in the post-Stoke predictions, though he said he had “Catholic guilt” for correctly calling a dire 0-0. QPR_Hibs won last season’s Prediction League at a canter and is lending his thoughts to this year’s previews…

“Whenever I think of Wrexham, I’m reminded of that episode of ‘I’m Alan Partridge’ where Alan meets up with Tony Hayers, the BBC director general, to pitch some ideas to him for a new TV show? “A detective series based in Norwich called ‘Swallow?’ ‘Alan Attack?’ ‘Inner-city Sumo?’ ‘Arm-wrestling with Chas & Dave?’ ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ where two Hollywood actors buy a struggling football team and …..? Sorry, I think I might have over-stepped the mark with that one. ‘Monkey Tennis?’”

“Anyway, Disney seem to have got four series out of it so far, and Wrexham FC have also been given £18m of public money by the Welsh government to improve their facilities. No controversy there, I’m sure.

“Tuesday night saw another poor performance (and another 0-0 draw) for the R’s, albeit in terrible conditions. There were few positives to speak of, but I thought that Joe Walsh, Jimmy Dunne and Steve Cook played pretty well. The inverted wingers thing isn’t really working and, as others have previously said, the 4-4-2 system needs Burrell to make it function properly. Having already tried Kolli and Bennie, maybe Obikwu will be thrown straight into the team on Saturday as the Burrell replacement?

“My last two pieces have predicted that 'handsome Ronnie' will get a run out in defence, and he is yet to make an appearance, so I am going to double down (or is that triple down?) and suggest that he will start against Wrexham alongside Jimmy Dunne. I would like to see Paul Smyth on the right-hand side of the attack and maybe the left-footed Vale could be played on the left (what is this witchcraft?)

“Wrexham are playing well, are on a good run and spent a shed load of cash in the first transfer window of the season. Suggestions on the BBC Sport website are that they will play two up front against us in the shape of Kieffer Moore and Sam Smith. Another wasted afternoon for Rangers.”

QPR_Hibs Prediction: QPR 0-2 Wrexham. No scorer.

LFW’s Prediction: QPR 0-2 Wrexham. No scorer.

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Pictures - Ian Randall Photography