View on the Opposition - QPR

getwestlondon's Paul Warburton lifts the lid on Saturday's opponents
Paul Warburton, getwestlondon’s QPR correspondent, gives us the lowdown on Saturday’s opponents 

With two home games left for QPR, Saturday’s game is a must win isn’t it?

PW: "Yes it is, the home games against West Ham and Newcastle give them a smidgen of hope. The thing with QPR is they are very topsy turvy in terms of form. They play Liverpool and Manchester City away and a month ago you wouldn’t have given them a cat in hell's chance. But because of the recent form of Liverpool and with City out of the title race I wouldn’t be surprised if they went there and got a result." 

QPR have some good results recently, a good boost for confidence presumably?

PW: "The away form has been good, four points from a possible six with the 4-1 win against West Brom and draw away at Aston Villa. Also the fact that they’ve scored seven goals has helped a great deal, they’ve leaked a few too but if Chris Ramsey had been offered four points he would’ve bitten your hand off.

"The home defeat to Chelsea was just one of those things, it wasn’t a fair results, it should have been a draw. But Chelsea being Chelsea scored in the 88th minute with their one and only shot on target."

What is your verdict on Chris Ramsey, do you think he has done a good job?

PW: "I think he is a very good man-manager, he’s done a lot to improve individual players. If you look at someone like Matt Phillips, he couldn’t get into the team and now he is something of a mainstay. I think Phillips is a confidence player who needs nurturing and Ramsey has done a great job with him.

"More generally, he knows how to get the best out of players which is very important. He’s a very nice guy, very affable and easy to get on with."

Who has been in form recently, there’s been a lot of talk about Charlie Austin this season?

PW: "It is difficult to get past Charlie to a point, but if you asked me who is the most important player for QPR, I would say Rob Green. He’s been outstanding, he really has, he should be in contention for an England call up at the very least, he’s been equal to Joe Hart. Ramsey has said that Green has been worth nine to 12 points on his own. Without Green he would be relegated already." 

It was 2-0 to West Ham earlier in the season, what did you make of that game?

PW: "Yes I was. I don’t know if it was the day, being a Sunday or the atmosphere or whatever it was but deary me, it was as poor as anything. I was speaking to Nedum Onouha about that game just yesterday and he reckons there have actually been worse performances. But it was a dire game, I don’t think Rangers would have scored if they had carried on playing until now." 

Five games to go, can QPR beat the drop?

PW: "It’s the $64 question. It’s between five or six clubs so it’s going to be difficult. I was asking fans online whether they would put their life savings on QPR staying up and to a man and woman, almost all said no.

"It is a very perilous situation. Can they do it? Of course they can. Will they do it? I wouldn’t like to give you any odds. It seems to change by the hour and it will be touch and go. I hope it goes down to the last day because that’s Leicester v QPR which is massive and then a bit."

What is your prediction for Saturday’s score?

PW: "7-0 QPR of course! The thing about Loftus Road is, although it is small, atmospheric it surely is. There is a wave of sound around the place and the crowd is very tight around the pitch. I’m sure Sam Allardyce will want to get the points but West ham really have nothing to play for so hopefully that will spur QPR on a bit. I think it’ll be 1-0 to Rangers."