Match Preview: Queens Park Rangers v Sunderland - all you need to know ahead of kick-off!

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Tuesday 14th February 2023

(16th) QPR v Sunderland (7th)

Championship

Loftus Road

Kick-Off: 19:45

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Tickets & Match Coverage

Tickets: Tickets are sold out.

TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is available via the Sky Sports red button and via www.safc.com.

Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online)

Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game on the Roker Report Twitter feed (@RokerReport) and check out the player ratings after the full-time whistle at www.RokerReport.com!

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The build-up...

Now we’ve finally won successive games on home soil, we’re back on the road with a trip to the capital to take on Queens Park Rangers.

We go into the fixture in impressive form away from home as we find ourselves unbeaten in the last seven, which is part of the reason how we currently boast the fifth best away record in the division. We have to go all the way back to the 18th October to find our last defeat on our travels, when we went down 2-1 at Blackburn Rovers.

Looking at the wider picture, we find ourselves in a good run of form generally with one defeat in the last eight Championship fixtures that finds us sitting 7th, only six points behind third placed Middlesbrough with a game in hand.

Our record at Loftus Road hasn’t been great in recent years in league competition, and we have to go back to 2011 for our last league win - which came in a 3-2 Premier League victory thanks to a last minute goal from Wes Brown.

We took our time to break down a frustratingly unambitious Reading side at the weekend, and it will be interesting to see if Tony Mowbray decides to give any players a rest with the relatively quick turnaround between games as we look to plan our push for a top six finish with sixteen games remaining.

Photo by Richard Sellers/PA Images via Getty Images

It’s probably fair to say this season has been a bit of a rollercoaster for QPR. Back in the summer they managed to lure Mick Beale from Steven Gerrard’s backroom staff at Aston Villa to become their new manager, and as the halfway point of the season approached, it was potentially shaping up to be a successful season.

At the end of November they sat 7th in the table, seven points off the second automatic place and incidentally four points above ourselves as we were back in 15th place in the division. But then came along Glasgow Rangers, who managed to convince Beale his future lay away from Loftus Road after Premier League Wolves had failed only weeks prior.

A couple of weeks later, Neil Critchley, who was also part of Steven Gerrard’s backroom staff at Aston Villa, was appointed as Beale’s successor - and so far things haven’t quite gone to plan.

Since his appointment, QPR have only won one game in the eleven that Critchley has taken as manager, which included being knocked out of the FA Cup by Fleetwood Town. At Loftus Road we need to go all the way back to 22nd October to find QPR’s last victory there, when they ran out 2-1 winners against Wigan Athletic.

Critchley and his side are desperate for a result tonight as they risk being dragged into the scrap at the wrong end of the table, and they may well view a win over a side like us as something that could kickstart their season.

Photo by John Early/Getty Images

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The betting...

The bookies have a home win priced at 13/10 tonight with the Lads at 21/10, and the draw is around 9/4.

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Head to head... at Loftus Road

(All competitions)

• Sunderland wins: 5
• Draws: 4
• QPR wins: 10
• Sunderland goals: 21
• QPR goals: 30

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Last time we met... at Loftus Road

Tuesday 26th October 2021

League Cup - 4th Round

QPR 0-0 Sunderland

(Sunderland won 3-1 on penalties)

Sunderland: Burge, Winchester, Alves (Doyle), Wright, Hume (Cirkin), Gooch (McGeady), Evans (O’Brien), O’Nien, Neil, Dajaku (Pritchard), Stewart Substitutes not used: Hoffmann, Flanagan, Wearne, Harris

QPR: Dieng, Kakay (Adomah, Odubajo, Dickie, De Wijs, Barbet, Amos (Duke-McKenna), Willcok (Dozzell), Dykes, Gray (Austin), Chair Substitutes not used: Archer, Drewe, Dunne, Johansen, Ball

Attendance: 15,372

Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

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Played for both...

Danny Dichio

London-born Dichio made his mark at Queens Park Rangers in the mid-1990’s which led to a move to Sampdoria in Serie A. The centre-forwards time in Italy only lasted a year and included a loan spell at Lecce, before Peter Reid added him to the ranks to boost our promotion push in January 1998.

Dichio spent three years at the Stadium of Light scoring 18 goals in 97 appearances, 62 of which were as a substitute. After a loan period at the Hawthorns, he signed permanently for West Bromwich Albion in 2001, which was followed by moves to Millwall, Preston North End and Toronto FC where he would finish his playing career and begin a new career in coaching.

Photo by Rebecca Naden - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images

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