QPR return to action v Wigan Athletic this weekend.
QPR will go in search of just their second win of the Gareth Ainsworth era v bottom club Wigan Athletic this weekend. The R’s have lost seven of their last eight games, and Ainsworth has been in charge of the last five outings leaving him with just three points from his opening five games as manager.
Six points separate QPR and the drop zone and so this game against Wigan is a huge one in the context of QPR’s season. Injuries haven’t helped the Londoners of late, especially injuries in the defensive department. Ainsworth is set to be bolstered by the returns of Leon Balogun and Ethan Laird this weekend though, as well as the return of Chris Willock, but doubts remain over Osman Kakay and Kenneth Paal.
Kakay has been a shining light in recent fixtures but there were fears that the right-back had suffered knee ligament damage when he came off at half-time in the game v Birmingham City. Ainsworth though had positive news on that front, telling West London Sport:
“It’s not as bad as we first thought. We thought it could be ligament damage, but it’s not ligaments.”
Kakay will be assessed ahead of Saturday’s game along with Paal, who’s missed the last four games with a knee problem.
A huge game for the R’s…
Looking at QPR’s remaining fixtures, this next one v Wigan Athletic is by far their most winnable, and so there’s a lot of pressure on QPR to claim a win in this one.
The R’s still have some really tough games left against the likes of West Brom, Coventry City, Norwich, Burnley, and Stoke City, so they really need to take maximum points this weekend or risk dropping into the bottom three before the end of the campaign.
Wigan have recently been dealt a points deduction and they look destined for League One next season, so QPR could take hope from that, and from the fact that they could have a number of key players returning to action on Saturday.
The game kicks off at 3pm.
