Queens Park Rangers

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Watford winger Othmane Maamma has been nominated for the CAF Young Player of the Year award, recognising emerging African talent.

The 20-year-old captained Morocco twice during their successful U20 World Cup campaign, scoring one goal and delivering four assists to help them lift the trophy and was also named the tournament's best player.

Maamma came off the bench in both of the Hornets last two Championship games against Ipswich Town and Bristol City for his first appearances since joining the side in the summer from Montpellier.

Ajax U21 midfielder Abdellah Ouazane and Queens Park Rangers U21 defender Tylon Smith are the other two names in the running for the award.

Julien Stephan believes his team showed good mental strength to get a point at Sheffield United.

The Queens Park Rangers manager told BBC Radio London: "With the ball and without the ball we did a very good game. We kept our structure defensively for the last 25 minutes but lost our ability to create something in possession.

"Sometimes this can happen, especially when you play away and have opponents who want to push.

"We had two good saves from Ben Hamer in the game, which was very important, but I want to congratulate all the team because mentally it was not very easy after the three defeats in a row.

"The reaction was a strong reaction against a good team with a lot of good players. It's not easy to do that in this stadium.

"If we look at the first 60 minutes it's probably two points lost, but if I watch the last 25 minutes, probably we won a point."

Queens Park Rangers boss Julien Stephan says his side cannot blame bad luck for their three-match losing streak.

Stephan's team lost to Southampton in the week, despite a significantly higher xG (1.68 to the Saints' 0.68) and double the shots on target (18 to 9).

"We can't say we are only unlucky at the end of a game, it's not only that," Stephan told BBC Radio London. "We are not honest if we say, 'oh, unlucky'.

"We have to be more clinical offensively and we have to respect more the defensive principle of every situation. If we do that, I'm pretty sure that we will win some games quickly."

Four of QPR's six league losses this season have come in their past five games and has seen the side drop from the upper half of the table to 16th place.

They next face bottom two side Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Listen to the full interview with Stephan and more Queens Park Rangers content on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Opta

Sheffield United begin the Championship weekend back in the bottom two as they welcome QPR on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Blades allowed a 1-0 lead to slip to a 3-1 defeat at leaders Coventry on Tuesday night to suffer a third straight defeat and 11th in 14 games.

They lie seven places and nine points behind 16th-placed QPR, who suffered a third straight defeat of their own at home to Southampton on the same night.

The Hoops have lost four of their past five league games, though had taken 10 points from four away games before a 1-0 defeat at Derby in their most recent match on the road.

• Since losing three in a row against the Rs between August 2010 and October 2017, Sheffield United have only lost one of their past nine league games against Queens Park Rangers (W6 D2).

• Queens Park Rangers have avoided defeat in their past two away league games against Sheffield United (W1 D1), last doing so in more consecutive trips to the Blades between 1992 and 1997 (a run of five).

• Sheffield United have lost their past three Championship games and conceded three goals in each defeat. They have never previously conceded 3+ goals in four straight matches in the second tier (or lower).

• After losing his first league game against Queens Park Rangers in charge of Sheffield United (0-1 in October 2017), Chris Wilder is unbeaten in his past five against them in the Football League with the Blades (W4 D1).

• Callum O'Hare has been directly involved in 55% of Sheffield United's goals in the Championship this season (6/11 – four goals, two assists), with this the highest percentage by any player for a team in the division in 2025-26.

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Queens Park Rangers striker Richard Kone has received his first senior Ivory Coast international call-up for their friendly against Saudi Arabia on 14 November.

The 22-year-old joined the R's from Wycombe Wanderers in August and has scored four goals in 12 Championship appearances so far this season.

Kone received his maiden call-up for Ivory Coast Under-23s in May but did not feature for the side.

However, he has previously represented his country in the 2019 Homeless World Cup.

Managerless Southampton will look to end a five match winless streak as they make the trip to Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday (19:45 GMT).

The Saints sacked boss Will Still on Sunday after a dismal start to the season sees them just one place above relegation by three points, having lost their past three successive games.

While for the Hoops, it's been a much more topsy-turvy experience.

The London side have won five league games but also lost five so far, though three of those losses have come within the past four games.

• Queens Park Rangers won their first home league game against Southampton this century in January 2006 (1-0), but have since lost five of six home games to the Saints (W1).

• Southampton have won each of their last four league meetings with Queens Park Rangers, and could win five on the bounce against the Rs for the first time in the Football League.

• QPR have taken four points from their two midweek (Tue/Wed/Thu) Championship games this season (0-0 v Oxford, 1-0 v Swansea), last avoiding defeat in each of their first three midweek fixtures of a league campaign in 2015-16 under Chris Ramsey (W1 D2).

• Since the start of last season, no team have lost more away games in the top two divisions of English football than Southampton (18 – level with Watford).

• Southampton's Adam Armstrong has scored six goals across his last seven league appearances against Queens Park Rangers, only netting more times across his English league career against Birmingham City (8).

Queen's Park Rangers boss Julien Stephan says his side will need to work better as a group after the Loftus Road club shipped four goals at home to Ipswich on Saturday.

Speaking after the 4-1 defeat, Stephan told BBC Radio London: "It is a disappointing result but it was the one we deserved.

"It wasn't too bad for the first 60 minutes, I thought the first half was good and we reacted well to going a goal down.

"But the second goal came too quickly at the beginning of the second half and to concede so early in both halves against a very good team with good players is difficult, and then the third goal killed us mentally.

"I will be honest in the analysis of this game with the players, including what we did well as well as the big mistakes. After that it is just a question of learning.

"There are good examples to show the players as well, but we need to correct the negatives too because you cannot concede four at home. We need to be better collectively going forward.

"This is a good team, and a good group, and that shines through in difficult moments. We have the chance to react [against Southampton] on Wednesday."

QPR will seek to get back on track at home when Ipswich visit on Saturday (15:00 GMT) seeking to break their winless away run.

After a six-match unbeaten streak, in which the R's claimed 14 points, Julien Stephan's side have now lost two of their past three, going down 1-0 at Derby last time out, while they saw their unbeaten start at Loftus Road ended by Millwall the previous week.

Kieran McKenna's men are two points and three places below the ninth-placed Hoops but bounced back from consecutive defeats with a 1-0 home win over West Brom last Saturday.

They have however taken just two points from their opening four away games, while the fifth at Blackburn was abandoned late-on with the Tractor Boys trailing.

• QPR have won six of their past seven home league games against Ipswich Town (L1), though that sole loss came in their last meeting at Loftus Road in August 2023.

• Ipswich Town have won just three of their past 14 league games against QPR (D2 L9), but did win 1-0 away and draw 0-0 at home in the last campaign in which these two sides met (2023-24).

• QPR have won just two of their past 11 home league games (D5 L4), averaging just one goal per game during that time.

• Ipswich are winless across their past eight away league games (D4 L4), since a 2-1 win at Bournemouth in April – the Tractor Boys could lose back-to-back games on the road outside of the top-flight for the first time since December 2021 in League One (vs Sunderland and Charlton).

• Ipswich Town's Jack Clarke has scored four goals as a substitute so far this season in the Championship, at least twice as many as any other player.

Queens Park Rangers boss Julien Stephan says he does not want his side to feel "pressure" heading into two home games against Ipswich Town (Saturday, 15:00 GMT) and Southampton (Wednesday, 19:45 GMT).

The Hoops have only lost one game at home so far this season, though it did come in their previous match at Loftus Road in the London derby defeat by Millwall.

"I just want to see my players and my team playing with confidence," Stephan told BBC Radio London. "No pressure, just pleasure to play two games at home with our fans.

"We want to restart a good run at home. Against Ipswich, we know it will be difficult.

"They are very dominant - in possession, out of possession. It's a very strong team but each game is a new history. It's our role and our objective to write a good history for this game."

Listen to the full interview with Stephan and more QPR content on BBC Sounds.

Derby County will look to turn their season around as they host Queens Park Rangers on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The Rams put an end to five league match winless streak when they beat Norwich City in the week to lift themselves out of catching distance of the bottom three.

Visitors QPR will be a different task though, with the side up the other end of the table and eyeing a place in the top six.

• Derby have lost five of their last seven league games against QPR (W2), losing 4-0 in the most recent meeting in February.

• QPR have only lost one of their last four away league games against Derby (W2 D1) but it came in the most recent visit last season, losing 2-0.

• Derby have won just one of their last nine home league games (D5 L3), though it did come in their last outing at Pride Park vs Norwich City in midweek (1-0).

• QPR have won six of their last nine away league games (D1 L2), as many as in their previous 25 on the road (D8 L11).

• Derby's Patrick Agyemang has been involved in four of their last five league goals (1 goal, 3 assists); since the start of September only Ryan Giles (5) has more Championship assists.

QPR boss Julien Stephan said he was happy with his side's 1-0 win over 10-man Swansea but felt they could have done with a second goal to "kill the game".

"Happy with the game, happy with the clean sheet as well, just a little bit disappointed because we didn't score the second goal. In this case we never know at the end what can happen," Stephan told BBC Radio London.

"I liked the way we managed with the ball in the second half, it was very good in terms of control and how we were able to create danger.

"Just the paradox of the game was that we were able to score 11 against 11 and we didn't score with one more player but I think we deserved the win."

The victory means Rangers have earned 10 points from four away league games since they were hammered 7-1 at Coventry City in August.

"We have to enjoy the moment and to analyse why we do well away. But the basics and the foundation is always our defensive organisation. If we want to travel well and play well away you need to be strong defensively," Stephan said.

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Kwame Poku has continued his return from injury by scoring for QPR's development side in a 4-1 win at Bournemouth on Monday.

The forward returned to full training last week having picked up a hamstring injury in the first game of the season against Preston and has not featured since.

Poku, 24 , who joined QPR from Peterborough in June, scored after just six minutes of the victory on the south coast.

Meanwhile, midfielder Ilias Chair, who has been out with a hamstring problem since the second game of the campaign at Watford, also started the match.

Defender Jake Clarke-Salter, who has not played since January following hip surgery, is also back in full training and featured in the victory.

QPR are in Championship action away at Swansea on Wednesday, 22 October (19:45 BST)

Queens Park Rangers will look to bounce back from their London derby defeat as they cross the border to visit Swansea City on Wednesday (19:45 BST).

The Hoops conceded their first home loss under boss Julien Stephen when Millwall took a 2-1 victory at Loftus Road on the weekend.

But the side have fared better than any other Championship team on the road in recent times and with Swansea finding themselves in a bit of a tricky spell, the visitors could find themselves keeping in contention with the promotion contenders.

• Swansea City completed a league double over QPR last season; only from August 2012 to December 2014 have they ever won three league meetings in a row over the London club.

• QPR have won three of their last five league visits to Swansea (L2), although lost this exact fixture last season 3-0.

• Swansea are winless in four home league games (D3 L1), last going longer without victory between October and December 2023 (6).

• Since the start of April, no side has earned more away points in the Championship than QPR (16 – P8 W5 D1 L2).

• QPR have won eight of their last 11 away league games against Welsh clubs (D1 L2), including four of their last five (L1). They've kept seven clean sheets during that time.

QPR boss Julien Stephan felt his side paid a heavy price for not taking their chances as they suffered their first loss of the season at Loftus Road.

Defeat ended their six-game unbeaten run and Stephan felt his team learned a painful lesson.

"Football is very simple," Stephan told BBC Radio London. "If you have big chances, you have to take your chances to score and today we had enough chances, especially in the first 20, 25 minutes when we had three, four, five big chances.

"We scored and then we had an opportunity to score at the end with Rumarn, a big chance.

"We have to be efficient and they were more efficient than us. That's why they won. Efficiency makes the difference in football. Now we have to continue to learn, to work and to stay positive."

Image source, Opta

The international break is finally over and QPR and Millwall get back to business with a London derby at Loftus Road on Saturday lunchtime (12:30 BST).

After a slow start the R's look to have turned the corner under Julien Stephan, sitting sixth in the Championship after taking 14 points from their past six games and looking to make it seven unbeaten for the first time in nearly a year.

They lie one point and two places ahead of Alex Neil's Lions, who are unbeaten in their four away games in the league this year and are seeking to make it their best start on the road in a decade.

• Queens Park Rangers have only won two of their past eight league games against Millwall (D2 L4), though they have only lost one of their previous 13 against them at home (W5 D7).

• Millwall have picked up five points on their past four league visits to Queens Park Rangers (W1 D2 L1), as many as in their previous nine trips (D5 L4).

• After failing to win any of their first three league games this season (D1 L2), QPR are unbeaten in their past six (W4 D2); it's their longest run since December 2024 (7 games).

• Millwall are unbeaten away from home in the Championship this season (W2 D2), last going their first five away games of a season unbeaten in 2015-16 in League One.

• Richard Kone has scored in four of his past seven Championship appearances for QPR – since the date of his first goal, only three players have more Championship goals than his four.

Image source, Getty Images

QPR boss Julien Stephan was happy to see his players head out on international duty because it serves as confirmation of the quality in his squad as they seek to maintain their play-off push.

Rangers are on a six-match unbeaten run, from which they have taken a Championship-best 14 points, as they head into Saturday's London derby at home to Millwall (12:30 BST).

"It's always challenging to restart after an international break," the head coach told BBC Radio London.

"I prefer having some players away with their international teams as it means we have good players."

Forward Koki Saito made his senior debut for Japan against Paraguay while Rumarn Burrell and Isaac Hayden were away with Jamaica and another attacking player, Rayan Kolli, featured for Algeria 'A'.

Winger Paul Smyth played for Northern Ireland against Germany and captain Jimmy Dunne was away with the Republic of Ireland.

"We will have some players coming back on Friday so we have to reconnect them in one day but it's not only Millwall, we have two games away after that," added Stephan.

The Frenchman has also confirmed attacking midfielders Kwame Poku and Ilias Chair are back in full training and could feature over the next week with a trip to Swansea next Wednesday.