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QPR v Wolves - match preview

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The full lowdown as Wolves travel to London hoping for three points to boost their play-off prospects.

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PREAMBLE

Well it's not been the best of weeks for those of a Wolves persuasion.

Jordan Graham was ruled out for up to a year, the search for Benik Afobe's replacement remains a very frustrating one, a deal for Ajax defender Nicolai Boilesen collapsed, Michal Zyro is injured and their winning run came to an abrupt end against Cardiff last weekend.

Safe to say the club's long-suffering supporters could do with a bit of a boost.

And for the team's play-off hopes it's a case of the margin for error becoming slimmer and slimmer.

Nineteen games remain between now and the end of the season. And if Wolves are to reach, say, 75 points, which in more years than most would guarantee a play-off place, they need 38 points from those 19 games.

A handy two-points-per-game ratio, then. Over to you, Wolves.

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Bjorn Sigurdarson has trained this week

Conor Washington, a player Wolves inquired about before electing not to make a bid, goes straight into the QPR squad and is expected to make his debut.

Otherwise Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink will stick with the same XI. Former England goalkeeper Robert Green is fit again, but with speculating mounting over his future he may be benched.

Matt Phillips has been the subject of a bid from Middlesbrough but is expected to play.

Wolves are of course with Graham, sidelined for up to a year after tearing his cruciate knee ligaments.

And his probable replacement on the left wing, Zyro, is out with a calf injury.

Emiliano Martinez also misses out with a thigh problem.

But Bjorn Sigurdarson, out since West Ham with a back problem, should be able to feature after training this week.

James Henry and Nathan Byrne are the two obvious options to come in on the left.

LIKELY LINE-UPS

QPR (4-3-3): Smithies; Perch, Onuoha, Hall, Konchesky; Luongo, Henry, Fer; Phillips, Washington, Hoilett. Subs: Green, Angella, Tozser, Sandro, Chery, Mackie, Polter.

Wolves (4-3-3): Ikeme; Iorfa, Batth, Ebanks-Landell, Doherty; Coady, McDonald, Edwards; Van La Parra, Le Fondre, Henry. Subs: McCarey, Golbourne, Price, Saville, Byrne, Enobakhare, Sigurdarson.

Matt Phillips

Matt Phillips: Tormented Wolves in the reverse fixture, scoring twice. Too good for the Championship.

FORM GUIDE

Hasselbaink went eight games without a win after taking over as QPR boss.

But he finally broke his duck at Rotherham last weekend, overseeing a 3-0 victory in Yorkshire thanks to goals from Junior Hoilett, Matt Phillips and Sebastian Polter.

Their last victory at Loftus Road came against Leeds almost two months ago in late November.

That poor run means the Hoops are three points and five places below Wolves, 15th in the Championship table.

As for Wolves, they did the opposite to QPR last weekend, ending their four-game winning streak with a 3-1 defeat at home to Cardiff.

MATCH ODDS

QPR are 5/4 to win this one, while Wolves are outsiders at 9/4, with the draw 23/10.

Jackett's team have kept a clean sheet in their past two away league fixtures and you can get 8/1 for them to win 1-0, or 16/1 for a 2-0 victory.

Unsurprisingly, Washington is fancied to score on his debut, with some offering as short as 7/4 for the former Peterborough striker to get on the scoresheet, or 66/1 for a debut hat-trick.

Former Wolves captain Karl Henry is 25/1 to score first against his old club.

Adam Le Fondre is likely to start for Wolves and if you fancy him to score first and Wolves to win 2-1 you can make £50 from a £1 bet.

Or for the more adventurous, the odds of Rajiv van La Parra breaking the deadlock and Wolves reversing the 3-2 scoreline they were on the wrong end of against QPR in August are 150/1.

Kevin Doyle scored the winner when Wolves last visited Loftus Road

February 4, 2012 (Premier League), QPR 1 Wolves 2. Wolves' most recent top-flight victory, and their last win over Premier League opposition. It came a week after Steve Morgan stormed into the dressing room post-Liverpool, and a week before Mick McCarthy was sacked. Matt Jarvis and Kevin Doyle scored as they came from behind, after Djibril Cisse was sent off.

December 6, 2008 (Championship), QPR 1 Wolves 0. The manager of the month curse struck McCarthy as Wolves lost for the first time in nine matches. Martin Rowlands fired a stunner from 20 yards to win the points for Paulo Sousa's new team.

December 15, 2007 (Championship), QPR 0 Wolves 0. Oh dear. One of those games that commentators would dub 'instantly forgettable', but in reality anyone who witnessed it will have the mind-numbing dullness engrained on their soul forever. Stephen Elliott missed a sitter. Nothing else happened.

December 16, 2006 (Championship), QPR 0 Wolves 1. Michael Kightly scored his first Wolves goal in a victory that was more one-sided than the scoreline suggests.

March 4, 2006 (Championship), QPR 0 Wolves 0. Yep, not many goals in this fixture of late. Stefan Postma, Darren Anderton and Maurice Ross were in a Wolves team that was completely unrecognisable just a few months later.

PRE-MATCH MANAGER THOUGHTS

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: "We want to put on a performance that everybody is proud of and get three more points on the board.

"This is a building process. But we want to win matches. We want to win as many games as we can and then see where it takes us."

"Conor Washington is his own player – he's not a direct replacement for Charlie Austin, far from it.

Kenny Jackett

Kenny Jackett: "We must continue to have a positive attitude towards getting there and closing that gap.

"Our goals against tally needs to improve if we're going to be successful.

"We've conceded too many. There are only six teams in the division that have conceded more (the bottom five in the table, and Brentford)

"QPR have a lot of talent and ability in their side, some very big name players, transfer fees and that's synonymous with coming out of the Premier League," he said.

"We haven't been a pushover away from home and our running, our aggression, our competitiveness has been there and it will be on Saturday."

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FOR THE FANS

Ardent Wolves fan Russ Cockburn: "There's an O'Neill's near Shepherd's Bush which is popular with away fans and should be open early.

"Westfield Shopping Centre houses the Bull and a Wetherspoons, whilst Brewdog is nearby. Not sure when the latter opens though.

"It's an iconic ground, hemmed in but not great for away fans in top tier. A lot of views will be restricted, especially the nearby goalmouth."

THE REF

Andy Woolmer (Northamptonshire): Spent most of the season in charge of League One or League Two fixtures, showing 72 yellows and two reds in 23 matches.

His last game at Loftus Road was in December 2013 for a 3-0 win over Bournemouth.

And his last Wolves fixture came that same season, for a 4-2 home win over Colchester in League One.

PREDICTION

After conceding five in the last two Jackett will surely revert to a more defensive approach.

It's wins Wolves need but without Graham and Zyro you can't look much further than a 1-1 draw.

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