A bit shorter than usual due to hectic Christmas schedule

Monday 3rd January 2011
Loftus Road Stadium
Npower Football League Championship
Referee: F Graham
Kick-off: 15:00
Queens Park Rangers (1st) V Bristol City (17th)
By The Godfather

Queens Park Rangers suffered a 1-0 defeat to promotion rivals, Norwich City, on Saturday afternoon. Once again, they were reduced to ten men, with Matthew Connolly seeing red for a professional foul. Frankly, this was always going to be a very difficult fixture and had I been offered six points from three matches prior to Christmas I would have gladly accepted. However, with Swansea City winning their New Year’s Day match, it is crucial that the Rs return to winning ways against Bristol City, a side that has not enjoyed a particularly successful start to the campaign.

Bristol City

Manager: Keith Millen

Season 2009-10 finish: 10th position

During the summer, Bristol City fans were feeling confident that the club could challenge for promotion this season. They had a proven manager in Steve Coppell and had just signed England international goalkeeper, David James, who had been playing in the World Cup only a few months beforehand. However, bizarrely, Coppell resigned after a single league match, a 3-0 defeat at home to Millwall. Keith Millen, who had previously led the team as Caretaker Manager, was quickly appointed as the new boss.

After the shock of Coppell’s departure, it perhaps wasn’t surprising that the team struggled at the beginning of the campaign, eventually finding themselves rooted to the bottom of the table. However, in October, a crucial victory over Reading seemed to galvanise the players and they have been gradually climbing the league ever since. A 3-0 win over Cardiff City on Saturday will mean that Millen’s men will be feeling confident about this fixture.

Man to watch

Bad news, I’m afraid. Bristol City are likely to start with Jon Stead up front, a man who, incredibly, always seems to score against Queens Park Rangers. He started his career with Blackburn Rovers, but soon found himself unable to break into the first team and subsequently sought a move to the Championship. The 27 year-old also had unsuccessful spells with Sheffield United and Sunderland. Since his move to Bristol, however, he seems to have improved dramatically in front of goal, having netted 6 goals this campaign. Let’s hope that he doesn’t continue his irritating habit of producing man-of-the-match-winning performances against the Super Hoops.

Previous Match

October 2010 – Queens Park Rangers escaped with a point from Ashton Gate thanks to a late equaliser from Patrick Agyemang. That man, Jon Stead, put the hosts head with a superb 25 yard strike into the roof of the net. Queens Park Rangers dominated possession, but were fortunate not to go two down when Rose forced Paddy Kenny into a superb diving save. After the break, the Rs piled on the pressure, but had to wait until the 84th minute for the leveller, when Agyemang tapped in from a corner.

Bristol City 1-1 Queens Park Rangers

QPR Team News

Matthew Connolly is unavailable for this fixture through suspension following his red card against Norwich City. Peter Vaagen-Moen’s availability will depend upon the time at which the signing is registered with the Football Association. It is still unclear as to whether Tommy Smith will return to the first team after being replaced by Leon Clarke. Meanwhile, Peter Ramage and Lee Cook remain long-term absentees.

Prediction

With two games in such a short space of time, both sets of players are likely to be rather fatigued. Therefore, I don’t expect that this will be a particularly lively encounter. Bristol City have a lot of pace on the flanks and I suspect that they will try to attack down the right wing, where Clint Hill is likely to retain his place. On the other hand, City have conceded an awful lot of goals this season, with some rather unconvincing performances from former England international goalkeeper, David James. Therefore, I am going to predict a narrow Rangers victory.

Queens Park Rangers 2-1 Bristol City