Ghost of loanee past threatens unbeaten record — full match preview
Tuesday, 19th Oct 2010 11:23 by Clive Whittingham

On Tuesday night QPR embark on the first of two trips down the M4 in four days when they tackle Scott Sinclair and Swansea City in South Wales.

Swansea (4th) v QPR (1st)

Npower Championship >>> Tuesday, October 19 >>> Kick off 7.45pm >>> Liberty Stadium, Swansea

I’d forgive you if you had failed to notice but we’ve mercifully just come to the end of the Commonwealth Games – an utterly pointless, meritless, worthless competition pitting athletes from a variety of countries, islands, territories, counties, villages and basically any other patch of grass that wants to get involved against each other for no reason whatsoever.

Was it the Chinese who had a proverb asking if a mediocre athlete wins a medal because none of the better athletes turned up and there’s nobody around to see it, does that athlete still win a medal? Probably not, because the Chinese aren’t invited. They’re too good. Norfolk Island, now there’s a team.

Still, in the opinion of the ever irritating, squealing, gushing Alison Curbishley (which Five Live occasionally plasters across hours of its schedules for want of something else to talk about) not only does it matter, it might possibly be the greatest moment in history apart from the actual creation of the world itself and Jamie Pollock’s own goal at Maine Road in 1998.

Avoided by the talented, ignored by almost everybody else, those that did bother (and there weren’t many, some events didn’t even have enough to award a bronze medal) would have been better served staying at home, hanging a milk bottle top round their necks and getting their neighbours to come round and applaud. There would have been more people watching, they would have ended up with something worth just as much, and they wouldn’t have had to travel halfway around the world and contract the shits to do it.

Anyway, enough bile, those of you with nothing better to do with your time may have noticed an interesting approach to the women’s 800m final from India’s Tintu Luka. In much the same way as BBC News 24 once put a man who thought he’d arrived at the corporation for an interview for data cleansing live on air to talk about the new Iphone, the organisers of the Delhi games (that lot who said, without a hint of shame, that the appalling pictures of rooms infested with human faeces and wild dogs was ok because it was the “servants quarters”) stuck Tintu into this race rather than the 40 yard dash she’d clearly been training for. She shot out of the blocks for two laps of the track like a rat flying out of disconnected pipe in the athlete’s village, flying round the quarter full stadium at a speed somewhere in between that of a leopard and a commuter train. She completed the first lap of the track in something in the region of 13 seconds, leaving her rather bemused competitors trailing three and a half miles behind, only to find that she was then so tired it took her the remaining five days of the games to get round the rest of the course and finish with nothing. The Kevin Keegan of middle distance running – a farcical athlete for a farcical two weeks of bollocks.

And what, somebody may or may not be crying from the back, has any of this got to do with Swansea away on a Tuesday night? Well QPR, tearing off in front, leaving the pack behind, potentially running out of puff… come on these metaphors don’t write themselves, and I’ve got to think of seven preview entries in three weeks. Have a heart.

To tell you the truth all of this keeping my feet on the ground is starting to make my brain swell against the inside of my skull a little bit. After years of misery and Mikkel Beck on loan to see a QPR squad with such depth, breadth and quality finally sticking it to all comers and soaring away at the top of the table has been like a chocolate ice cream on a warm day. I want to start grabbing strangers in the street and asking them to dance with me but my defence mechanisms keep telling me to remain calm, say nothing, expect it all to go wrong at any moment, try not to curse it.

Perhaps, while this little run of ours continues against all odds, I should simply introduce the previews with a single line - 11 games unbeaten, eight wins, four points clear.

Five minutes on Swansea

Recent History: One of the difficulties created by the years and years of only having one up and one down between the Football League and the Conference is it created a strange situation where the bottom half of Division Three was of a far inferior quality to the top half of the division below. Awful teams, badly run clubs that were essentially bankrupt, dire footballers and hopeless managers formed an orderly queue from 12th down in Division Three simply waiting their turn. Teams like Carlisle United survived year after year by the skin of their teeth, always finding somebody else in the queue slightly worse than themselves only to be in the same position 12 months later while in the division below teams like Stevenage, Yeovil and Kidderminster endured exasperating waits.

Swansea were one of those teams in the queue to go out of the Football League. Playing in a stadium that, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, had been an impressive fortress that played host to top flight football and scared the established names in the game but by this point looked very much like that place you used to go to with your dad on a Sunday to throw household waste onto a large pile. No money, no decent players, no hope – they finished in their lowest ever position in 1997/98 and then, after a brief stirring with John Hollins in charge that saw a promotion and immediate relegation, they were 20th in the bottom tier again in 2001/02. The following year they scraped out of the relegation zone on the very last day of the season, relegating Exeter instead in dramatic circumstances.

Off the pitch the boardroom saw one botched takeover after another. In 1996 a new consortium bought the club from chairman Doug Sharpe and immediately appointed Kevin Cullis, of Cradley Town fame, as manager. So outraged was Sharpe that he invoked a clause in the deal to resume control of the club, and sacked Cullis after two matches. In 2001 the managing director bought it for a quid, then shifted it straight on to an Australian consortium fronted by Tony Petty who immediately terminated the contracts of 15 players. The Petty group sold its stake in 2002 amid a torrent of anger from the few Swansea fans left who could actually still bring themselves to care.

Since then the club has never looked back. Like Hull City it’s a club that has been galvanised by a move to a new council funded stadium. Kenny Jackett led them out of the bottom division in their final season at the Vetch Field after leaving his position as assistant manager to Ian Holloway at QPR and then when things stagnated a little in the third tier he was replaced by former player Roberto Martinez. Originally part of the ‘Three Amigos’ at Wigan Athletic (like the Three Degrees at West Brom but not quite as racist) Martinez was the popular captain of the Swansea team that avoided relegation to the Conference on the final day of the season and his stock continued to rise in South Wales when, as manager, he took them back into the second tier of English football after a 24 year absence.

A season of consolidation in this league followed with pundits and supporters alike attracted to the Swans and their unique style of play. While Championship teams in trouble tend to knock a ball in behind an opposing full back to relieve pressure, Swansea’s get out ball became a sweeping crossfield pass with a winger staying tight to the touchline on either side of the pitch so they could stretch the game widthways rather than lengthways. It sounds very simple, and several teams have copied it since including Blackpool under Ian Holloway, but at the time it was a revolutionary idea for the Championship. I can still remember Swansea coming to Loftus Road for the first time under Martinez and the ball being on the South Africa Road side of the ground, attracting every single QPR player to the right hand side of the centre spot leaving young Nathan Dyer still standing way out on the Ellerslie Road touchline waiting for that ‘get out’ ball to release him.

After all of this it was sad that Martinez soured his relationship with the club by decamping to Wigan. Nobody could really begrudge him a chance to manage a Premiership side, especially one that he played for, but having previously promised that he would stay with Swansea as long as they wanted him and they might have to carry him out of the place “in a box” the nature of his departure left a sour taste in the mouth. Especially as Martinez then returned for Jason Scotland, Jordi Gomez and numerous members of his backroom team.

Paulo Sousa seemed a natural replacement for Martinez in style and mannerisms but Swansea found the problem with the Portuguese was the same as it had been when he was at QPR previously and Leicester since in that Sousa sees actually scoring goals as a nice luxury rather than a necessity. Swansea just missed the play offs last season – which when you consider it was only their second season in the league and they not only lost Martinez, Scotland and Gomes in the summer but also saw star midfielder Ferrie Bodde ruled out for the season early on is no mean feat. However when you consider that they scored only 21 goals at home all season (only relegated Plymouth got less) and 19 away (Peterborough, again relegated, the only ones with fewer) it can be seen as an opportunity missed. Especially as they lost the final play off spot to Blackpool, who went on to win the whole thing, on the final day of the season when they drew 0-0, for the tenth time, with a Doncaster Rovers side with nothing to play for. Sousa’s keenness to depart South Wales for Leicester in the summer puzzled me at the time, and looks even more idiotic now he’s been sacked two months into the job at the Walkers Stadium.

Sousa had endured a difficult period with QPR where he could fairly argue that he wasn’t given enough time before getting the sack. Swansea followed that blueprint again when looking for his replacement and have successfully rehabilitated Brendan Rodgers following a disastrous spell with Reading at the start of last season. All the signs are good so far with the Swans fourth and dreaming of a return to the top flight for the first time in the thick end of 30 years.

Manager: Brendan Rodgers was hailed as some sort of Championship Mourinho when he came from nowhere to land the managerial job at struggling Watford midway through the season before last. A young, confident coach with new and modern methods trusted with a difficult managerial position despite never playing the game to any kind of level. That he was preferred to Malky Mackay who had a wealth of first team experience behind him and had done a fine job as caretaker manager in difficult circumstances showed how much Watford rated him.

Rodgers kept Watford up with points to spare, even turning Tamas Priskin into something resembling a professional footballer. Rodgers made his name in footballing circles coaching in Reading’s academy, and then later at Chelsea where he learned from the Portuguese man in the Matalan coat. Watford gave him his chance and he seized it with both hands before dumping them at the first possible opportunity to join Reading as their manager.

Now there’s a fair bit of luck all round in the story here really. Luckily for Watford Malky Mackay wasn’t too bitter about being overlooked the first time and took the job on – he has since kept Watford up despite a balance sheet that looked like it had been put together by Bob Diamond and Trader Jones during a late night pot party at Charlie Chalk’s hampering his progress. This season Watford are flying. Luckily for Reading their decision to appoint Rodgers for a long term rebuilding job following relegation from the top flight and an end to their parachute payments didn’t damage them too greatly when they then sacked Rodgers after three months of dreadful results on the pitch – Brian McDermott came in to replace him and has been an unlikely success. And luckily for Rodgers he landed on his feet at Swansea who are currently fourth and looking threatening in a division that really looks as if it is there for the taking.

QPR’s Tommy Smith, who played for Rodgers at Watford, told the Kilburn Times: “From what I hear, he was very unfortunate at Reading and didn’t really get a chance to develop and move things the way he wanted to. Often, if you don’t get results straight away, clubs start panicking a bit and I think that’s what happened with Brendan at Reading. He’s got a very different approach as a manager – quite a European approach to tactics and training, and it takes players time to get used to. At Watford it took time but, after three or four months, we started getting some great results.

“I’m sure it would have been the same at Reading – as soon as he left they started winning, which showed the solid foundations he’d put in place. He’ll be doing the same at Swansea and it’s going to be tough for us there. Brendan will certainly have done his homework and they’ll be prepared for us.”

Three to watch: QPR must beware that always irritating football phenomena of the former employee coming back to get one over his former paymasters on Tuesday night when they face in form Swansea winger Scott Sinclair. Les Ferdinand, Simon Barker, Nigel Quashie and Paul Murray all immediately spring to my over worked, over tired mind as I sit here at gone one in the morning typing this trying to recall our former favourites who quickly returned with other clubs and scored goals against us. I’m sure there are dozens more.

Sinclair was a real coup for QPR when he arrived on loan in November 2007. QPR had been taken over right at the very end of the summer transfer window and were only able to squeeze through a suspiciously timed permanent deal for Sheffield United’s Mikele Leigertwood to add to a squad lacking just about everything required for Championship survival that year. Rather than leaving newly appointed manager Luiggi De Canio to flounder with the likes of Zesh Rehman, John Curtis and Danny Nardiello until January Rangers set about securing a number of loan deals, such as the inspired capture of Akos Buzsaky from Plymouth. That one was later turned into a permanent transfer and Buzsaky became an overnight West London sensation. Earlier in the season the Hungarian had been joined in an Argyle midfield that also included Peter Halmosi by a young Chelsea winger called Scott Sinclair.

He originally came through the ranks at Bristol Rovers. Actually, that’s not true, he was coming through the ranks at Bristol Rovers until Chelsea, in what has become the time honoured and thoroughly reprehensible way the bigger Premiership clubs go about these things, quickly hoovered him up with the enthusiasm of a starved pig suddenly flung into the world’s biggest heap of shit. Chelsea, naturally, had no need for Scott Sinclair, or any of the other children (and that’s what they were) they snaffled up then and continue to do so today. They have shown with Michael Manciene that whenever they do actually create a genuinely high quality talent of their own it only it ends up wasting its time banging its head on a glass ceiling while big money purchases like Alex and Ivanovic play in its stead. Sinclair was signed at a time when Damion Duff and Shaun Wright Phillips were being bought for the thick end of £40m and by the time he was old enough to move into the first team Flourent Malouda had arrived on the scene.

So, like all the youngsters Chelsea and Tottenham selfishly sweep up for the sole purpose of preventing anybody else from having them, he was left to play meaningless matches in a vast academy and reserve team structure, and occasionally go out on loan to the lower divisions. When Sinclair did arrive in the Championship with Plymouth he immediately caught the eye with a goal against Barnet in the FA Cup that started in his own penalty area and ended in the back of the net at the other end of the pitch following a mazy three mile run that took him past the majority of the Barnet team, coaching staff and local population. QPR were doing a bit of snaffling and guzzling of their own at that stage – shrugging off years of financial worries to quickly grab hold of whoever they could find, regardless of whether they really needed him or not. Sinclair scored early on for Rangers at Crystal Palace but whenever questioned on the possibility of extending the loan for a further month or two or, how foolish were we to mention this one, making it a permanent transfer he rejected the chance to give a political answer and said quite clearly that he had come to QPR solely to ‘keep his eye in’ because he’d been promised a game for Chelsea against Liverpool in the League Cup in a few weeks time.

QPR fans had, by and large, gone along with this borrowing players from Chelsea malarkey. At this stage we hadn’t played them competitively since 1996 and even the most ardent of Chelsea haters had to concede that without Mancienne and Jimmy Smith we would have been relegated to League One in 2006/07 and more than likely slipped into administration as well. There were grumbles when John Gregory talked of using us as some sort of Chelsea nursery, and when Sinclair so openly slated the wearing of our beloved Hoops as some sort of glorified fitness exercise. Those grumbles got a hell of a lot louder as Sinclair’s spell with Rangers went on.

It’s often levelled at loan players that they lack commitment to their temporary employers. We’ve had a few in the past couple of seasons and they have been a pretty mixed bag commitment wise. Nobody has ever been less committed to playing for QPR than Scott Sinclair. He pulled out of any potential physical contact, fearful for his place in that big Liverpool game, with such vigour he must have risked serious muscle damage just by trying to tuck his legs up so far behind his back. Cowardice doesn’t even begin to describe it, and by the time he did return to Chelsea to underperform badly against the Scousers and leave the field after less than an hour most QPR fans wouldn’t have kept him even if he’d asked to stay after all.

Further loan spells followed over the next two years as Charlton, Palace, Birmingham and then Premiership side Wigan tried their luck with this once highly rated youngster. But denied a settled environment in which to play regular first team football his fire soon burned out and a cut price move to Swansea in the summer, already rivalling the acquisition of Jamie Mackie as the season’s most impressive, was something of a fresh start. When totting up reasons why England do nothing on the international scene any more this hoarding of the likes of Sinclair, Mancienne, John Bostock, Kyle Walker, Kyle Naughton and others by, chiefly, Chelsea and Tottenham with no intention of ever giving them a game outside the League Cup or loan deals has got to be playing a significant part.

Sinclair returned from injury to bag his ninth goal of the season in a 1-0 win at Reading on Saturday – cutting in from the left flank, tempting defenders into challenges and gliding past them with balletic footwork and then calmly slotting home. Sinclair v Walker on Tuesday night should be two things – it should be a cracking clash, and it should be taking place on a higher stage than this one.

Swansea have struggled for forwards and goals since the departure of Jason Scotland to Wigan last summer, and while Sinclair’s heroics have covered up for that somewhat they are still lacking a focal point for their attack. Sinclair, and Nathan Dyer who is a questionable use of flesh and oxygen but a good footballer all the same, provide a pacey and tricky element to the Swansea attack that QPR will do well to live with. Add in Middlesbrough’s Marvin Emnes who couldn’t score in a cheap brothel during happy hour while on Teeside but always looked lively and threatening in a similar style to that pioneered by Regi Blinker on these shores and QPR have all they need to deal with on Tuesday and more.

Furthermore, with Nottingham Forest’s morally repugnant summer poaching mission in this part of the world successfully repelled Darren Pratley remains to anchor the Swans midfield. He’s like a Championship Tom Huddlestone in his physique and style and if we were ever looking to splash the cash on somebody younger for the Shaun Derry role we could certainly do a lot worse.

Links >>> Swansea City Official Website >>> Swansea City Message Board >>> Travel Guide

History

Recent Meetings: When these sides met at the Liberty Stadium in October last season QPR were 11th under Jim Magilton and Swansea 16th. Rangers were coming into form after thrashing Barnsley and playing well in a 1-1 draw at Newcastle during the week but their chances of winning in South Wales were dented first by a poor first half display, and then by two quick fire sendings off. Martin Rowlands went for two lunging tackles, the second after Jay Simpson really should have scored, while Ben Watson was booked for a mistimed tackle and then a foolish handball offence and sent off as well. Swansea took full advantage as first Gower and then Trundle struck in the final quarter of an hour to comfortably defeat the nine men.

Swansea: De Vries 8, Williams 7, Tate 7, Monk 7, Rangel 7, Britton 8,Pratley 8 (Lopez 86, -), Dyer 8, Gower 7, Butler 7 (Trundle 60, 7),Dobbie 6 (Beattie 72, 6)

Subs Not Used: Cornell, Richards, Orlandi, Van der Gun

Booked: Gower (foul)

Goals: Gower 74 (assisted Rangel), Trundle 85 (assisted Dyer)

QPR: Cerny 7, Leigertwood 7, Gorkss 6, Stewart 7, Borrowdale 5, Rowlands 6,Watson 6, Routledge 7, Buzsaky 6 (Taarabt 76, 6), Vine 6 (Faurlin 60, 6),Simpson 6 (Pellicori 77, 5)

Subs Not Used: Heaton, Ramage, Mahon, Ephraim

Sent Off: Rowlands 53 (two bookings), Watson 78 (two bookings)

Booked: Rowlands (foul), Rowlands (foul), Gorkss (foul), Watson (foul), Watson (handball)

By the time the sides met at Loftus Road QPR had been all the way up to fourth and then right back down into the relegation battle, working their way through Paul Hart and Mick Harford to reach a point where Neil Warnock was in charge. Swansea meanwhile had climbed into the top six and were looking good for the play offs under Paulo Sousa who spiced up his first return to Loftus Road with some choice comments about Warnock’s preferred style of play in the build up. The game looked to be going to form when Bauza’s through ball that looked destined for Ikeme hit the hapless Matt Hill on the back and fell perfectly for Nathan Dyer to silence the boo boys with a well taken lob. But the introduction of Antonio German, Lee Cook and later Rowan Vine changed the game in QPR’s favour and young German bagged the equaliser with a quarter of an hour left when he bundled the ball home after De Vries had flapped at Taarabt’s corner.

QPR: Ikeme 7, Ramage 6, Gorkss 5, Connolly 6, Hill 5, Ephraim 6 (Vine 72, 6),Faurlin 8, Leigertwood 7, Buzsaky 6 (Cook 58, 7), Taarabt 6, Priskin 4 (German 58, 7)

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Balanta, Brown, Oastler

Goals: German 76 (assisted Vine)

Swansea: De Vries 6, Rangel 6, Williams 6, Tate 7, Richards 6, Cotterill 6 (Van der Gun 66, 6), Gower 7 (Beattie 89, -), Britton 6, Bauza 6, Dyer 8 (Butler 84, -), Kuqi 7

Subs Not Used: Cornell, Pratley, Pintado, Trundle

Booked: Richards (foul)

Goals: Dyer 57 (assisted Bauzer)

Head to Head: Swansea wins 10 >>> Draws 10 >>> QPR wins 16

Previous Results

2009/10 QPR 1 Swansea 1 (German)

2009/10 Swansea 2 QPR 0

2008/09 QPR 1 Swansea 0 (Leigertwood)

2008/09 Swansea 0 QPR 0

2004/05 QPR 3 Swansea 0 (Cureton, Rowlands, Gallen)

2001/02 Swansea 4 QPR 0

1980/81 Swansea 1 QPR 2

1980/81 QPR 0 Swansea 0

1979/80 QPR 3 Swansea 2

1979/80 Swansea 1 QPR 2

1978/79 QPR 2 Swansea 0

1966/67 Swansea 1 QPR 3

1966/67 QPR 4 Swansea 2

1966/67 Swansea 1 QPR 2

Played for both: Robbie James

Swansea 1973-83 >>> 1988-90 >>> QPR 1984-87

Swansea born and bred, Robert Mark James graduated from Swansea City’s schoolboys to play for his hometown club-making his debut in April 1973 aged just 16. Over the next decade, James would go on to play almost 500 times for the Swans and became known as ‘the darling of the North Bank’. He was a pivotal part of the side that rose from the fourth to first division in just three seasons, helping the club to sixth place in the first season back in the top flight. His utility was seen as a vital commodity and could play as effectively in defence or midfield. James earned international recognition whilst at the Vetch Field and would go on to win 47 caps for his country. In 1983 and after ten seasons with Swansea, James looked for a fresh challenge in England and signed for Stoke City and despite being an ever-present in his season there moved on a year later to Queens Park Rangers. He made his debut from the subs bench against Arsenal in November 1984 and went on to be an important part of the R’s squad over the next four seasons.

Mainly playing as full-back for Rangers, Robbie’s enthusiasm and pace led him to playing out from the back and prompting the attack. James played his part in the team that went all the way to the League Cup Final in 1986 and although he played in the final, he couldn’t prevent Rangers from a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Oxford. A year later James left Loftus Road and signed for Leicester before appearing once again for his beloved Swansea and winding down his career with Bradford and Cardiff. He then had a brief spell in the Welsh Leagues and managed both Merthyr and Llanelli before his untimely death from a heart disease in 1998. Still seen as a true Swansea legend and a bust of James has been erected by the ticket offices at the Liberty Stadium. –AR

Links >>> QPR 1 Swansea 1 Match Report >>> Swansea 2 QPR 0 Match Report >>> Connections and Memories

This Tuesday

Team News: Neil Warnock has one or two decisions to make this Tuesday after his run of consistent team selections was broken up by an early injury to Akos Buzsaky against Norwich on Saturday. Buzsaky has twisted that knee rather than destroy it as he’;s been a bit prone to do in the past so he should be fit again soon enough, but not for tonight, and Warnock must now decide who replaces him at the Liberty Stadium. Gavin Mahon signed a short term deal on Monday and could be in contention, Mikele Leigertwood came on for him on Saturday and had one of his worst ever QPR games so may not be considered from the start here. Alejandro Faurlin was on the bench on Saturday but didn’t come on as he was only fit for half an hour of action. I can’t imagine the situation has improved much there in three days so he may have to start among the replacements again. Martin Rowlands has suffered a knock to his ankle that has set his comeback back a little, Lee Cook has started running but is not yet fit for a first team return. Rob Hulse’s debut date remains a mystery as his Achilles continues to cause him problems.

Swansea will have to rejig the centre of their midfield too after Mark Gower pulled a hamstring against Reading at the weekend. Manager Brendan Rodgers said: “'He won't be available for tomorrow night which is a real shame because he's been outstanding this season. I hope it's not too serious; he wasn't running or anything at the time, it was just a twist and he just felt it. He's been a real influential member of the team and now we're just waiting for the extent of the scan and we'll take it from there.” The Swans can call upon forward Marvin Emnes who signed on loan from Middlesbrough on Monday and is available for selection here. Joe Allen has recovered from his hamstring injury and is available. Darren Pratley, Scott Sinclair and David Cotterill all came through unscathed on their respective comebacks at the weekend and can play again.

Elsewhere: While another round of meaningless Champions League group games will doubtless attract most of the attention, there is a full round of Championship action this Tuesday night with a number of eye catching fixtures. Cardiff hit the road looking to close the gap still further on QPR but could find it tough with a trip to Coventry who have quietly snuck up to seventh with a run of three wins and a draw from their last five matches. So while first meets fourth at the Liberty Stadium and second plays seventh there is also a clash of fifth v sixth as Watford host Ipswich whose form seems to be waning a little of late. Norwich have the easiest game of any in the top six on paper facing relegation haunted Crystal Palace at Carrow Road. Of the chasing pack Burnley host Barnsley which they should win if they have promotion ambitions, and just below them Leeds face Leicester that would have been a banker home win a fortnight ago but with Curtis Davies, Kyle Nuaghton and shortly Darius Vassell added to the City side they may begin to climb away from the bottom end of the table very soon. Middlesbrough start life without Gordon Strachan at Nottingham Forest, two pre-season promotion favourites fallen on hard times, Preston v Scunthorpe already has the look of a relegation six pointer and Millwall v Portsmouth looks like a tasty night for the Met Police. There are stories and intrigue wherever you look in this fixture list this Tuesday.

Referee: It’s a relative newbie. Simon Hooper from Wiltshire is in his third season on the league list and this is just his ninth Championship appointment. He has never refereed QPR before but has twice been in charge of Swansea on this ground – for a 0-0 draw with Reading in which they missed a penalty and a 1-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest last season. Bookings a plenty in both games. Click here for further brief details.

Form

Swansea: If QPR are to maintain their unbeaten run tonight they’ll have to work very hard – Swansea have won four and drawn one of five home matches this season and haven’t lost on this ground in ten matches stretching back to March. They have only conceded one goal in that time as well. Still, Derby County got a draw here last time out so they’re certainly not infallible. Those 13 points won from 15 available at the Liberty Stadium are supplemented two wins and four defeats on the road – Swansea have won at Reading (on Saturday) and Watford. They have won four of their last six to climb into the promotion picture.

QPR: QPR haven’t won in Swansea for 29 years, but are the only team in the Football League who are still unbeaten this season so something has to give on Tuesday night. All the stats look good for Rangers who have scored 24, more than anybody else, and conceded three, the best defence in the league. They have won all eight games in which they have scored first and away from home have already won at Palace, Leicester, Sheffield United and Ipswich in five road trips so far.

Prediction: A draw. Both teams are incredibly mean in defence and difficult to beat and they’d probably both be happy to come out of this fixture with a point and when that’s the case a draw is always likely.

Scott Sinclair to score first in 1-1 draw 35/1 Bet365

Photo: Action Images

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