Game three of the three game week, televised in front of a full house with form and optimism building, I think we had a fair idea of how tonight's meeting with surprise package Reading would usually go for QPR even before they lost two of their star men to injury all over again.

QPR (6-3-3 WLWDWW 4th) v Reading (7-1-4 LWLWWD 3rd)

Lancashire and District Senior League >>> Friday October 7, 2022 >>> Kick Off 20.00 >>> Weather — Sunny, breezy >>> Loftus Road, London, W12

A three game week, third of which is Friday instead of Saturday, first two away, no trains, one in Bristol, one in Sheffield. If I haven’t been typing I’ve been driving, and if I haven’t been driving I’ve been typing. If I’ve been doing neither, I’ve been drinking. There has been no sleep.

All, of course, in the end, as it turns out, completely fucking worth it. Just seeing a QPR team play like they did for that sparkling half hour at Ashton Gate was worth the petrol money alone, but to then see us go to the best team in the league and defend together as we did on Tuesday was just so nourishing after what has been a tough 2022 on the road for the Rangers faithful thus far.

Going back to Sheffield and Bramall Lane so soon after losing there in April, where another three match week involved trips to Preston, Huddersfield and S2 in double quick time for the return of one point and much soul searching about what exactly it is I’m doing with my life, provided exactly the sort of easy angle and way in you need when every time you open your eyes there’s another match preview to be written.

How, we wondered, would Mick Beale’s new-look QPR fair on a ground where the last embers of Mark Warburton’s W12 fire well and truly died out on an insipid night of football a few months back. Sheff Utd have signed well and improved considerably themselves since then, and were already a team that was one miraculous Brice Samba performance away from a play-off final in any case. Once again, as at Bristol last Saturday, it was the manner of the performance as much as the result that had us nursing blue balls all the way back down the M1 on Wednesday morning.

The narrative for the Friday game with Reading, therefore, was set. Would QPR be able to maintain those levels into game three of three? It’s something they struggled to do last season — just five wins from 16 matches in these circumstances. It’s also not a very QPR thing to do. Playing well, winning games, climbing the league, home game, Sky cameras, full house… if you think we’re winning tonight, I suspect you haven’t been around these parts very long. We were reminiscing about that weird week when Jim Magilton turned QPR into the Brazilian World Cup winning team of 1970 earlier this week, because Reading were one of the victims in a week that saw the R’s score four times in three consecutive games. What came next, of course, because it’s QPR, was a televised Friday night home game against a mediocre Leicester team in front of a packed house — which we lost 2-1 and made Matty Fryatt look like the Emperor Trajan. If we stay true to form, we fall flat on our face tonight, and the air goes out of the balloon.

That was supposed to be the latest litmus test for Bealemania. If you want to achieve things here, you have to take the QPR out of QPR. Four away wins in five trips over the last month bodes very well for Beale in that regard, because that’s not something we do historically either. However, that narrative shifted slightly, to a test of a different nature, with the two injuries picked up in the second half at Bramall Lane.

In QPR’s financial situation, you live and die by your injuries. We can afford, and have afforded, a very competitive starting 11, and virtually nothing beyond that. Although the bench has looked a lot stronger in recent weeks, as a clutch of the early season injuries have returned to form and fitness, we still have situations in our squad where we are paper thin. In Ethan Laird and Kenneth Paal, for instance, we look to have done two tremendous bits of business, and secured two of the league’s best full backs. They’re then covered by Kakay and Trävelmän. Ilias Chair and Chris Willock are arguably the two best tens in the division, playing together in the same team, but scratch beneath that shiny veneer and you’re very quickly into the game but limited George Thomas. Seny Dieng, who’s been absolutely superb of late, is backed up by Jordan Archer, a man whose insistence that you should stand eight yards off your line in preparation for crosses from either flank creates an ongoing sense of blind terror among the watching public.

Last season, injuries were a huge part of the collapse we suffered from knocking on the door for second to slumping down in eleventh. They’re not, as I keep saying, the only reason — there was a lot more going on behind the scenes. It suits Mark Warburton and several others to say “what do you expect if Seny Dieng, Rob Dickie, Chris Willock etc are all out together at the same time” but Rangers were already at one win from six, including dire defeats at Barnsley and Millwall, when Dieng got crocked at Blackburn, and they were two wins from nine (about to be ten) when Willock’s hamstring imploded at Nottingham Forest.

Nevertheless they’re not only two of our key men, they’re two of the best in their positions in the entire league. There’s a chance Dieng may still play tonight, according to Mick Beale’s pre-match press conference. Willock, though, is definitely out, and we wait nervously for the result of a scan. It’s his other hamstring this time, though whether that’s good or bad news I don’t know. The numbers tell you everything you need to know about their importance to this team.

This season Willock has scored six goals in nine games, and Rangers are still yet to lose on any of the 16 occasions he has scored for us in his career — W13 D3. That’s the longest such run by a player since Adel Taarabt scored in 21 games without losing between January 2010 and April 2012 (yes I’ve been stalking Jack Supple again this week — justice for Karl Ready mate). The R’s have taken 20/27 points from those nine matches and lost just once — 2.22 points per game — without him they took one point from nine at the start of the campaign. Last season Rangers had a 45.95% win average when Willock played (W17 D10 L10) then lost six and drew one of the nine matches remaining after his injury. He started none of the three defeats to Peterborough or the loss at Barnsley. We’ve lost nine of the last 13 games he hasn’t played, winning two, scoring only five goals, and failing to score in five of them. Very similar numbers for Seny who was W14 D8 L8 (46.66%) and then the team went W5 D4 L11 (25%) without him.

Without Willock, we know teams are able to double on Chair so his game suffers, and the attack starts to falter. Without Dieng we miss that ability to play out from the keeper to our high full backs, diminishing that impact. These are the last two players you’d pick to be injured together at the same time, and it’s now happened to us twice in six months. Beale and his players dealing with it differently second time around will be key to maintaining a promising start to the season against the division’s surprise package tonight.

Links >>> Remarkable start — Interview >>> Magilton’s hot streak — History >>> Bramall in charge — Referee >>> Reading Official website >>> Tilehurst End — Blog >>> Hob Nob Anyone? Forum >>> Reading Chronicle — Local Paper >>> Get Reading — Local Paper >>> Elm Park Royals — Podcast

Below the fold

Team News: One of those where the team news is pretty much the preview. Beale says Dieng is keen to play, Willock definitely won’t, and the only news we have on either so far is it’s the opposite leg to last season’s problems in both cases. Better news, Rob Dickie was back on the bench in the week after his ankle knock, Stefan Johansen got a full rest for the first time this season so should be fit and raring to go, and likewise Jake Clarke-Salter who looked so good for an hour at City last week. Taylor Richards is back in training and could make the bench, and provide a temporary solution to the Willock problem, for the first time since Blackburn.

Reading bring Joe Lumley and Jeff Hendrick back to Loftus Road, fresh from a 1-1 draw with high flying Norwich in which Hendrick scored his first for the club. After the way he played here last season, and the stuff we wrote about him, expect him to make it two tonight. Lumley’s first return with Middlesbrough last season was disastrous, erring badly for Chris Willock’s goal in a 2-2 draw, but bar one vintage collapse at Rotherham in August he’s been playing well for the Royals. Obligatory Chelsea loanee Baba Rahman is out so the immaculately named Nesta Guinness-Walker deputises.

Elsewhere: In a season of eight managerial changes in the first ten games, Steve Bruce is still employed by West Bromwich Albion. This despite sinking into the bottom three during the week by continuing Preston Knob End’s binary code season — 0-0, 0-0, 0-1, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-1, 0-1, 1-1, 0-0, 0-2, 1-0. This can only possibly be because West Brom’s skinted and wantaway owner cannot afford the pay off, and even that surely wouldn’t survive another loss this weekend at home to Lutown. Preston, meanwhile, are boring the living shit out of Norwich tomorrow afternoon. There must be something in the water up in Lancashire at the moment — other than the sewage we put there now obviously — because Burnley are now trudging along with 50% of their games finishing 1-1 too ahead of a trip to Coventry.

A full 17 minutes of injury time at Watford v Swanselona in the week, because with ten minutes to go the referee’s communication equipment packed up and he couldn’t possibly manage ten minutes of the sort of acoustic officiating thousands of referees seem to manage fine on local parks up and down the country every week. “You’ve got a flag and a whistle” chanted the disgruntled Vicarage Road faithful, and I can’t imagine their mood improved much when Russell Martin’s team used the extra day’s play to notch a late winner. It’s been a start of extremes for Slaven Bilic then, after a 4-0 win at Stoke last weekend. We’ll find out more about his Hornets at Blackpool, Swansea meanwhile host Sunderland, while Stoke have another tough assignment at home to Sheffield Red Stripe.

Exeter’s Matt Taylor is the new man in charge at Rotherham and having started life there with a 1-1 home draw with Millwall he now takes his Millers across to Blackburn for this week’s north off. The Marxist Hunters, meanwhile, will be keeping a weather eye out for any left leaning political tendencies among the good people of Middlesbrough. Birmingham v Bristol City is this weekend’s exciting fixture between two teams beginning with B, Wigan v Cardiff I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, and Huddersfield v Hull isn’t exactly going to have the Sky subscribers scrambling for their remotes on Sunday lunchtime either.

Couple of catch up games in hand during the week too, including the 764th Lancashire derby of the season so far as Wigan host Blackburn, and the latest 0-0 draw for Preston down at Bristol City.

Referee: Thomas Bramall, who took our opening day loss at Blackburn, is back for a quickfire second career appointment with QPR. He’s been fast tracked onto the Premier League list this season and had Bournemouth’s thriller against Brentford at the weekend. Details.

Form

QPR: The victory at Sheff Utd in the week coupled with Wigan’s slip at Hull means Rangers are out on their own at the top of the Championship’s away form table — 13 points, 4-1-1 from the last six games. Overall they have five wins and a draw from the last seven matches. Seventeen goals scored is the fifth best total in the division. Having kept two clean sheets in 28 games, and none in the first ten this year, Rangers now have three in four matches (all three with Balogun and Dunne as the centre back pairing) and have only conceded three goals in six games after shipping nine in the prior six. Leon Balogun has only conceded one goal in 368+ minutes of football for the club so far. The home form has been a little softer, with just two wins from five games played, seven goals scored and two blanks against Blackpool and Stoke. Rangers haven’t scored a goal at the Loft End since Luke Amos’ winner against Derby at Easter, seven games and eight goals ago. Sam Field is now seven without a yellow card, it’s his longest run since April 2021. Game three of the three game weeks were a problem for QPR last season — having won two and drawn one of them in August, they went on to win just three, draw three and lose seven of the other 13.

Reading: It’s been a remarkable start to the season for the Royals, who have confounded pre-season expectations of a struggle to sit third in the early running with seven wins from 12 games — this having won only five of their last 27 games last season. They’ve managed this despite already losing 4-0 on two occasions — away at Rotherham and Sheff Utd — and getting walloped 3-0 at home by Sunderland. Only five teams have conceded more than their 16 goals and they’re the only team in the top six with a negative goal difference (-2). On the occasions it does go wrong for them, it goes wrong early — Blackpool, Rotherham and Sheff Utd all scored within the first 11 minutes of their wins, while Sunderland were 2-0 up at half time. Of their seven wins and a draw, four have come with a clean sheet and they only conceded once in each of the other four. They arrive in W12 unbeaten in three thanks to wins over Wigan A (1-0), Huddersfield H (3-1) and a 1-1 midweek home draw with Norwich. Rangers scored seven goals against Reading in the league last season, more than against any other side.

Prediction: We’re once again indebted to The Art of Football for agreeing to sponsor our Prediction League and provide prizes. You can get involved by lodging your prediction here or sample the merch from our sponsor’s QPR collection here. Let’s see what last year’s champion Cheesy thinks this week…

“Willock’s injury last season took the wheels of Rangers’ promotion push. I think we are in a better position to deal with losing him for a while now then we were then. I will put my trust in Beale to find a way to play without him. It’s up to Chair now, whose form took a knock last season when Willock was absent. I'm not sure he is the same player without his mate. Seny would be a massive loss as well. He's won us many points already this season. Let’s hope for good news regarding the injuries.

Cheesy’s Prediction: QPR 1-0 Reading. Scorer — Stefan Johansen

LFW’s Prediction: QPR 1-1 Reading. Scorer — Ilias Chair

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Paddyhoops added 17:45 - Oct 7 Gutted I won’t be there. Booked a marquee for our daughters 18th for tonight two months ago . Course Sky changed the game to Friday night!! 2.1 Rangers!!
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TacticalR added 11:10 - Oct 8 Thanks for your preview. 'What came next, of course, because it’s QPR, was a televised Friday night home game against a mediocre Leicester team in front of a packed house – which we lost 2-1 and made Matty Fryatt look like the Emperor Trajan. If we stay true to form, we fall flat on our face tonight, and the air goes out of the balloon.' Leicester revealed our soft underbelly in 2009. You might say things have come full circle with the Bristol result at the weekend as Nigel Pearson was the Leicester manager back then. Reading are a bit of a mystery with all their strange results this season. Agree with Cheesy that Beale has to find a way to play without Willock, although that is easier said than done.

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