Queens Park Rangers

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QPR have confirmed forward Zan Celar will face an unspecified "period of time" out of action because of a hamstring injury.

The Slovenia striker was forced off after just 13 minutes of Saturday's 3-0 win over Norwich City.

"The performance services department are currently working through early medical processes to ensure he is on the correct rehabilitation path and a further update on his timelines will be provided in due course," the club said in an injury update., external

Celar went goalless in his first 16 appearances for QPR after signing from Swiss side Lugano in the summer.

He finally broke his duck with both goals in a 2-0 win at Cardiff last month.

In more positive injury news for the R's, QPR say they expect to have Ilias Chair, Michael Frey and Jake-Clarke Salter back before the busy festive period of fixtures.

Rangers host Oxford United in the Championship on Wednesday evening looking to make it five league games unbeaten for the first time since October 2022.

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Two wins and two draws from their past four Championship matches has QPR fourth in the division's form table.

The Londoners have not gone five league games unbeaten since October 2022.

While QPR's trend is tracking upwards, Oxford's form across the past four Championship games is the second worst in the division, only behind Hull City.

• This is the first league meeting between QPR and Oxford United since March 1999, a match during which the London side ran out 1-0 winners.

• Oxford United have failed to win any of their past nine away league games against QPR (D3 L6) since a 2-1 victory back in December 1969.

• QPR are winless across their past 11 league games against newly-promoted sides (D3 L8) since a 2-1 victory over Wigan Athletic in October 2022.

• Oxford are unbeaten across their past four away league games against sides from London (W3 D1), their longest such run since March 2016 (six matches).

• Oxford have won just two of their past 13 away league games played in midweek (D4 L7 – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday), conceding five goals in total across their two such matches this season.

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QPR head coach Marti Cifuentes says he is refusing to look at the Championship table despite taking his side off the bottom and out of the relegation zone in the past fortnight.

Rangers' 3-0 win over Norwich City on Saturday was their first home league victory of the season and saw them climb out of the bottom three ahead of Wednesday's meeting with Oxford United.

"It was the same when we were at the bottom - I don't look at the table, it's about focusing on ourselves, on our performance and trying to get as many points as possible," said Cifuentes.

"I don't want to be in the same situation we were in last March and April where we knew we had to get a certain number of points and we were on the edge."

QPR now sit one point clear of the drop zone having drawn two and won two of their past four games.

"The challenge now becomes even bigger - the nature of the human being is to relax when things go well but we want to win against Oxford, it's going to be difficult so we need to keep improving," Cifuentes said.

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The Championship's lowest scorers - QPR, with 15 goals from 18 matches - take on the highest in the shape of Norwich City, who have found the net almost twice per game on average so far.

Rangers are yet to win at home this season, but could climb out of the bottom three if they end that sequence.

They go into the game unbeaten in three matches after following up their 2-0 victory at Cardiff with a creditable scoreless draw away to Watford last weekend.

The ninth-placed Canaries, who walloped Plymouth 6-1 before hitting another four goals in their home win against Luton last weekend, are looking to narrow the gap to the top six which currently stands at five points.

● QPR have failed to win any of their last eight league games against Norwich City (D4 L4), scoring more than one goal in just one of those matches.

● Norwich City are unbeaten across their last four away league games against QPR (W2 D2), while losing on just two of their last 10 such trips (W4 D4).

● QPR are unbeaten in their last three league games (W1 D2) and could keep three successive clean sheets for the first time since December 2023.

● Norwich are looking to win three successive league games for the first time since March last season, while the Canaries have scored 3+ goals in six of their last 13 league games, including each of their last two.

● Since the start of November, only Ben Doak (5) has more Championship assists than Norwich's Jack Stacey (4), assisting in each of his last three league games. Indeed, since the start of last season, he's one of only four defenders with more than 10 assists in the competition (11).

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QPR head coach Marti Cifuentes says the "brutal" nature of the Championship means they still have a lot of work to do to escape relegation this season.

The Rs drew 0-0 at Watford on Saturday to make it five points from a possible nine in the space of a week, easing an element of the pressure on the manager and around the club in general after a poor start to the season.

"We said to the players we need to keep the faith, we need to trust the process but there's still a lot of work to do, we're still down there," Cifuentes told BBC Radio London.

"The reality is this league is brutal and we need to be better at our good games to get the points and in those days when we are not that good we need to be able to compete and get points as well."

QPR's three-game unbeaten run has lifted them off the bottom of the Championship but they are still two points adrift of safety with home games to come against Norwich City and Oxford United.

"The players are proud about how the week has gone and about how we are competing against all the factors which have been tough for us but we need to keep going because we need more points and more performances like that," added Cifuentes.

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It is one of the most eagerly anticipated dates in the football calendar as Premier League and Championship clubs join the FA Cup action from round three.

The draw will take place on Monday, 2 December from 19:00 GMT and can be watched live on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

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QPR ended a wait of almost three months for a win at Cardiff as summer signing Zan Celar scored his first goals for the club.

The Slovenia international has struggled to adapt to English football since moving from Swiss side Lugano and missed a penalty in a 1-1 draw with Stoke at Loftus Road on Saturday.

But last night the 25-year-old was clinical in front of goal to open his account with a swivel and shot into the top corner to finally break his duck.

And with the confidence of the first goal, he calmly dinked the ball over onrushing Bluebirds keeper Jak Alnwick when through on goal to seal the points in a 2-0 victory at Cardiff City Stadium.

Goalkeeper Paul Nardi made several big saves to preserve the clean sheet and he said it was important for the team to build on the performance at Watford this weekend.

"We have a very tough week," he told BBC Radio London.

"We don't have the little luck sometimes, not just about luck but this night we feel good vibes, good things, the team fought for every ball.

"I'm very happy for Zan Celar, he's a big fighter. It was very difficult last week for him to miss the penalty but we can see the confidence of the group, of the teammates, when he scored.

"We are a very close group and the second one - what a finish from Zan!"

The three points moves QPR off the foot of the table above Portsmouth, whose match against Millwall last night was postponed due to a power failure at Fratton Park.

And head coach Marti Cifuentes was pleased for Celar to get off the mark, having defended him after his penalty miss against Stoke.

"It was an important win for us as a team, especially for the players as they have been working hard in a difficult period," he said.

"The fact it was Zan Celar, the whole group have been very supportive and protective of him. It was very important, it's a goal all of us have scored.

"He's a good guy, been working hard, and unfortunately until today he had not got the reward of the goals. Hopefully it will increase his confidence and be the first two of many."

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QPR will have to at least match the level of their performance against Stoke at the weekend to claim a result in Cardiff on Wednesday, says boss Marti Cifuentes.

The R's had 23 shots to Stoke's nine in the 1-1 draw at Loftus Road, with Zan Celar missing a penalty for the home side.

The Bluebirds had just one point at the end of September but went on a six-game unbeaten run and are currently one point above the relegation places, though they are without a win in their last three.

The Hoops are bottom of the table with just one victory from their first 16 league games.

"It's a talented team, I was a bit surprised how they started the season," Cifuentes told BBC Radio London.

"But that shows how tough and how ruthless is this league. They've got a group with many experienced players in this division, with some other additions who are talented players.

"I'm sure they have the level to improve in this table and it's true that with a change of manager, they got a good reaction and they're a difficult team. The way they play attacking-wise they've got talent and quality players.

"They're a team that's competing really well at the moment and we need to be ready to at least play the same level as we did against Stoke to get something from the game."

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QPR boss Marti Cifuentes has defended striker Zan Celar, saying only the players with guts to step up and take a penalty can miss one.

Celar shot wide from the spot in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Stoke City, meaning the Slovenian international is still searching for his first goal for the club moving to Loftus Road in the summer from Swiss side Lugano.

QPR are bottom of the table on 11 points and travel to 21st-placed Cardiff City on Wednesday in search of their first league win since August.

Cifuentes says he would have confidence in Celar to score from the spot next time his side are awarded a penalty.

"What I take from the penalty situation is only the ones who have the guts to take the penalty can miss it," he told BBC Radio London.

"His penalty record is fantastic, the last time he missed a penalty [before Saturday] was almost three years ago.

"No-one asked me why he took a penalty in the [Carabao] Cup penalty shootout against Luton and he scored, as he does very often on the training ground, as he does in his career with around 80%, or even more, scoring goals from penalties.

"The reality is that he missed, we're going to try make sure that he can score the next one."

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Queens Park Rangers were sorry to see Chris Willock depart when, with his contract up, the winger signed for Cardiff City in the summer.

Willock looks set to face his former employers for the first time when QPR travel to the Cardiff City Stadium on Wednesday night.

Assuming he features, Willock may hope a Rangers reunion can spark an upturn in form.

The ex-Arsenal youngster scored 20 goals in 144 appearances across four seasons at Loftus Road, with the seven strikes he managed in 2021-22 his best return in one campaign.

Yet Willock has scored only once to date in a Cardiff shirt, in the 5-0 victory over Plymouth in October.

He has played 14 times for the Bluebirds - though there have only been six league starts to date - but was left on the bench in last weekend's draw at Sheffield Wednesday.

In July, shortly before Willock signed a three-year deal at Cardiff, QPR chief executive Christian Nourry issued a statement saying that after "several months" of contract talks, the former Benfica player had decided to move on.

Nourry added that it was "no secret" that Rangers "would have liked to have found a way to continue the adventure" with Willock.

Five months on, Rangers are bottom of the Championship while Cardiff, who are only five points better off, are hoping Willock will have a greater impact as the season unfolds.

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Bottom side QPR travel to fellow strugglers Cardiff City on Wednesday night in search of a first win since 30 August, when they beat Luton 2-1 at Kenilworth Road.

That is still the only victory of the season so far for the Hoops who are without a win in the 12 league games they've played since (D6 L6).

Marti Cifuentes' side drew 1-1 at home to Stoke on Saturday, while the Bluebirds also drew 1-1, at Sheffield Wednesday, and are 21st in the Championship.

• Cardiff City are looking for consecutive league wins over QPR for the first time since January 2008.

• Queens Park Rangers have won three of their past four away league visits to Cardiff, winning 2-1 last season.

• Cardiff have won four of their five home league games under Omer Riza (L1), though they did lose their most recent such game against Blackburn 3-1.

• QPR have failed to score in their past four away league games (D1 L3); they last endured a longer such run in December 2008 in the Championship (eight games).

• Cardiff's Callum Robinson has been involved in four goals in his past four home Championship games against QPR (one goal, three assists).

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QPR boss Marti Cifuentes said football was about "achieving, not earning" after his side missed several chances to win their first home game of the season in the Championship.

Slovenian striker Zan Celar missed a penalty in the Hoops' 1-1 draw with Stoke on Saturday after Tom Cannon put the Potters ahead, before Ben Gibson later inadvertently put through his own net.

Despite having 23 shots, only five were on target for the R's and it has now been five games since a QPR player scored.

"Football is about achieving, not deserving but you could say that according to the amount of chances we deserved something else - but football is about quality," Cifuentes told BBC Radio London.

"In the first half we were very dominant and created a lot of situations, but one mistake and an amazing strike from Cannon gave them the lead.

"It was not easy mentally for the team to miss a penalty so at half-time it was important to pick up the players again and for us to show commitment, and I'm proud about the way we kept pushing.

"The second half was open because Stoke have quality players and it wasn't easy to contain them, but if there was a team looking for the win in the last minutes of the game it was us."

The R's remain bottom of the Championship with 11 points.