Having ended 2023 with a creditable draw against one of the Championship's high-flyers, Queens Park Rangers commence the New Year with a home clash against Cardiff City on Monday.
The capital outfit played out a goalless stalemate with Ipswich Town on Friday evening, while the Bluebirds took on the Tractor Boys' title rivals Leicester City and were on the receiving end of a 2-0 loss.
Match preview
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After a Boxing Day defeat to Millwall stretched QPR's losing run to three matches, newly-appointed head coach Marti Cifuentes stressed that he was not sworn in to be the R's "Messiah", but taking a point home from Ipswich Town can arguably be described as a miracle.
Twenty places separate the two outfits in the Championship table at present, but QPR limited Ipswich to just 54% of the ball and a mere seven shots - while firing 10 at the other end of the field - to travel back to Loftus Road with an unexpected, but merited point.
Cifuentes did not cut an entirely satisfied figure in his post-game press conference, though, having felt that his side were denied two clear penalties on the evening as they remain below the dotted line in 22nd place, four points worse off than Huddersfield Town in the safety of 21st spot.
The hosting manager also took the time to highlight his side's shortcomings in the final third, as failure to make the Portman Road nets bulge means that QPR have scored just one goal in their last five encounters and have gone scoreless in their last three Championship outings.
Even QPR's solitary goal in that sequence proved meaningless in a 2-1 loss to Sheffield Wednesday, meaning that Cifuentes's men also have an unsightly five-game winless run to show for their most recent efforts, and they won just three Championship games at Loftus Road in the whole of 2023.
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However, two of those victories came after the November international break, and QPR fared better than upcoming foes Cardiff did against one of the two title favourites on Friday evening, where the Bluebirds became the latest victims of Premier League-bound Leicester.
The Foxes' high pressing led to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall finishing into the bottom corner in the first half, and only 10 minutes of the second half had been played before James Justin doubled the leaders' advantage with a wonderful dipping strike from outside the area.
There is no shame in losing to Enzo Maresca's well-oiled machine, though, and Cardiff head coach Erol Bulut was still able to reflect on positive aspects of his side's performance, even if their record now reads three defeats from their last five contests in the second tier.
The visitors' inconsistency sees them lying in an unremarkable 14th place in the Championship standings, but they are incredibly still within touching distance of seventh-placed Sunderland and only have a five-point gap to make up to Hull City in the final playoff position.
However, the Bluebirds head to Loftus Road having been beaten in six of their last eight clashes with QPR in the Championship - including a 2-1 home beating in August - and each of their last five New Year's Day fixtures have ended in a loss since they opened 2013 with success over Birmingham City.
Team News
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QPR's share of the spoils against Ipswich came at a major cost, as all of Chris Willock, Steve Cook, Ilias Chair and Sam Field sustained knocks at Portman Road, although Cifuentes could not say how serious their problems were immediately after the game.
Each member of the quartet will undergo further assessment over the weekend, but Jack Colback and Morgan Fox are expected to miss out again owing to their muscular and knee problems respectively.
The hosts' fresh batch of injury problems will at least benefit Paul Smyth and Jimmy Dunne's hopes of returning to the first XI, while Lyndon Dykes - who is without a Championship goal since November - could also provide a pair of fresh legs in the final third.
Cifuentes and Bulut can share each other's pain when it comes to recent offensive injury concerns, as Cardiff lost two attackers of their own to injury against Leicester; Karlan Grant and Kion Etete were both unable to complete the full 90.
Grant left the field in the 40th minute with a hamstring injury, and Bulut is concerned that the 26-year-old may have suffered a complete rupture, although there was no update on the condition of Etete, who has been playing through pain for a good chunk of the season.
Yakou Meite and Callum Robinson will come into a rejigged attack if need be, while Aaron Ramsey (knee) and Callum O'Dowda (leg) are still out, although Bulut is hopeful that the former will return at some point this month.
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Begovic; Cannon, Dunne, Clarke-Salter, Paal; Field, Dozzell; Smyth, Dixon-Bonner, Adomah; Dykes
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Ng, Goutas, McGuinness, Collins; Ralls, Siopis, Wintle; Bowler, Robinson, Meite
We say: Queens Park Rangers 0-0 Cardiff City
Enforced attacking alterations will threaten to disrupt the flow of both sides on Monday, although QPR did not have much offensive verve to begin with, while Cardiff have failed to score in five of their last eight away matches.
Plenty of fireworks will be lit up and down the country over the New Year period, but do not expect sparks to fly at Loftus Road, where a bore draw is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.
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Top tip
Ben Knapton
