Queens Park Rangers

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Republic of Ireland defender Jimmy Dunne said his debut for his country "feels like a long time coming".

The Dundalk native won his first international cap as he came off the bench to help Republic of Ireland pick up a 2-1 win against Bulgaria at home in their Nations League B play-off, and a 4-2 aggregate victory.

The 27-year-old was delighted to finally make his international bow after first entering the Irish senior set-up in 2018 and having previously rejected the chance to declare for Northern Ireland.

"I'm not embarrassed to admit it is one of the proudest moments of my life - my mum and family were there so I'm incredibly proud," he told BBC Sport NI.

"Days like today make me realise that I'm glad nothing has changed [in switching international allegiances], and I stuck with it. I'm 27 now but hopefully I have a long career and there are plenty more chances to play for my country.

"Sometimes I had to park it in the back of my mind [playing for the Republic of Ireland], but I've known I've always really wanted to do it. It's a marker but I want to kick on."

The Queens Park Rangers defender praised Irish boss Heimir Hallgrimsson for giving him his debut in the promotion/relegation play-off second leg and for the advice the Icelandic coach has given him during this camp.

"There was a lot at stake tonight so it could have been very easy for the manager to stick to what he knows but he has put a lot of trust in me, and he has guided me," Dunne added.

The defender believes that the Republic are moving in the right direction ahead of the World Cup qualifiers starting in September.

"I haven't been part of this group previously and there has been a lot of criticism, but I don't think there has been any hangover from the England game [in November], we are really together, and we really believe, so there is no reason why these lads can't kick on and do wonderful things."

Image source, Rex Features

Speaking after his side fought back from 2-0 down to draw at QPR, Leeds United boss Daniel Farke said:

"During this period of the season when you have to play the third game in six days and you are 2-0 down after 30 minutes, it's a good point.

"QPR deserved to be in the lead because we were poor in the first 25-30 minutes.

"What was good was the reaction of my team today. Last season we were 2-0 down after 20 minutes [QPR won the game 4-0] but today we fought back.

"Second half we were completely on it, pressed the game, had four or five good situations where we were so, so close in the six-yard box.

"Yes, of course, we wanted to win this game [but] after the story of the game it's a good point on the road."

On Willy Gnonto's performance off the bench: "I was convinced he would make an impact.

"If I had opted for Ilia Gruev [to start the match] I would also have opted for Willy Gnonto. Perhaps we would have had a better start if we had made those changes.

"The feeling is he's playing more and more to create good situations in the centre and that's what he did in the second half."

QPR are looking to end a four-game losing streak when they host Championship leaders, Leeds United on Saturday (12:30 GMT)

Three of Leeds' four league defeats this season have come away from Elland Road.

• QPR have won five of their past six home league games against Leeds (L1), keeping a clean sheet in each victory. They beat them 4-0 last April despite being 40 points behind them in the league table.

• Leeds United beat QPR 2-0 earlier this season and are looking to complete a league double over the Hoops for the first time since 2017-18.

• QPR have won seven of their past nine league games at Loftus Road (L2), although they lost 2-1 most recently against Sheffield United. They last suffered consecutive home defeats in October.

• Leeds lost 1-0 against Portsmouth at Fratton Park in their last away league game and the Whites haven't suffered consecutive away defeats since December 2023.

• Since beating QPR 3-1 in December 2017, Leeds have lost 24 of their 31 league games in London (W4 D3) and nine of the last 10 in the capital.

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QPR midfielder Elijah Dixon-Bonner has joined Swedish side Vasteras SK on loan, external until July.

The 24-year-old has not played for the Rs since coming off the bench in added time of their 0-0 draw at Watford in November.

Vasteras were relegated to the second tier last term and begin their season against Orebrok SK on 1 April.

Dixon-Bonner, who joined QPR from Liverpool in 2022, will stay with the Swedish side until 8 July.

Middlesbrough welcome QPR to the Riverside Stadium on Tuesday night (19:45 GMT) looking to keep their Championship play-off hopes alive.

Boro's top six ambitions were dented by a 1-0 defeat at Swansea on Saturday - their seventh loss in 10 games - and sit five points behind West Bromwich Albion in sixth.

The Hoops have seen their own play-off quest become increasingly unlikely with three straight defeats leaving them them 11 points off the top six.

• Middlesbrough have won three of their past four league games against QPR (L1), scoring 2+ goals in each of those victories.

• QPR have won four of their past five away league games against Middlesbrough (L1), as many as across their prior 13 visits to face Boro.

• Middlesbrough are looking to win successive home league games for only the second time this season, previously doing so in November/December.

• QPR have won five of their past seven midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league matches (L2), though did lose the most recent such game 1-0 at Coventry last month.

• Middlesbrough have won each of their past four league games against London clubs; in their Football League history, their longest winning run over sides from the capital is five games, achieved on six previous occasions, most recently in March 2015.

West Bromwich Albion will seek to consolidate their Championship play-off spot as they host Queens Park Rangers on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The sixth-placed Baggies are unbeaten in three games but there are four sides below them within three points with 11 league games remaining.

After back-to-back defeats, QPR are now eight points behind Albion in 14th and have lost their past three away games in succession.

• West Bromwich Albion have lost just one of their past 11 league games against QPR (W7 D3), scoring 2.4 goals per match on average across that time.

• This century, QPR have won just one of their 12 away league games against West Brom (D4 L7). That run includes a 7-1 defeat in August 2018 at the Hawthorns.

• West Bromwich Albion have won six of their past eight home league matches (D1 L1) and haven't lost any of their last 17 Championship home games against a side from London (W5 D12) since a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in September 2009.

• QPR have lost five of their past seven league games (W2), losing each of their last three on the road. They last had a longer losing run on their travels between February and April 2023.

• West Brom's John Swift has had a hand in a goal in each of his last two Championship games (1 goal, 1 assist). He hasn't done so in three in a row since September/October 2023.

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Queens Park Ranger's manager Marti Cifuentes says his side have to learn from defeat against Sheffield United before they face West Brom next weekend.

Speaking to BBC Radio London the Hoops manager said: "We are going to play a quality side in West Brom who are pushing for the play-offs with an experienced manager.

"We need to learn from this one and keep improving in the areas where we know we can do better."

QPR pushed the Blades hard in the second half as they searched for an equaliser but could not find a way to break the league's second-placed side down.

Cifuentes said: "We are disappointed and sad. In many aspects I think we performed at a high level against a very good side. I think we really pushed to get a better result but despite we create more chances and controlled many parts of the game it was not enough.

"They scored a quality goal with a great strike but then we kept pushing and dominated large parts of the game. When you play against side's of the quality it is important not to make mistakes and the two goals were something we could have done better."

Sheffield United could find themselves eight points adrift of Leeds by the time their game at QPR kicks-off at 15:00 GMT on Saturday.

The second-placed Blades had taken 21 points from a possible 24 before Monday's dramatic defeat against the leaders at Bramall Lane.

Though they begin the day in 14th, Rangers are within seven points of fifth-placed West Bromwich Albion and have taken 21 points from a possible 24 infront of their own fans since early December.

• QPR are unbeaten across their past three league games against Sheffield United (W1 D2), a run directly following a sequence of five consecutive losses against the Blades between 2018 and 2022.

• Sheffield United are unbeaten across their past three away league games against QPR (W2 D1) – they've never done so in four in a row against the Hoops before.

• Sheffield United have lost eight of their past nine away league games against sides from London (W1), though that sole victory did come on their last visit to the capital during a 1-0 win over Millwall.

• QPR have won seven of their past eight home league games (L1), scoring 2+ goals in each of those victories.

• Sheffield United have won their past four away league games, last winning five in a row on the road between October and December 2022.

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Marti Cifuentes admitted that QPR struggled to impose themselves against Portsmouth after watching his side slip to a 2-1 defeat at Fratton Park.

Rangers started the second half badly, conceding twice inside the first six minutes and were unable to recover, going down to a third consecutive away defeat despite pulling a goal back through Jimmy Dunne.

"It was not easy to impose our way of playing, to try to put the ball on the ground and activate the third man because they press so intensely," the QPR head coach told BBC Radio London 94.9.

"Definitely the start of the second half was bad and very costly for us. (Josh) Murphy scored a really good goal and the key for us was the way we reacted to this goal.

"Unfortunately it took a little bit of time until we understood it was 2-0 and it was perhaps too late. But still after Jimmy's goal there could easily have been one or two more."

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QPR chairman Lee Hoos says he is "really pleased" with how the club has transformed their season after a disappointing start to the campaign.

The Hoops won just one of their opening 15 games (D7 L7) and were bottom of the Championship, five points adrift of safety, after they lost 2-0 at Leeds on 9 November.

But 10 wins from the 18 matches have followed since then, a run which has included seven and five-game unbeaten streaks, has propelled them up to 13th.

Marti Cifuentes' side are now just four points outside the play-off spots with 13 games remaining, and 15 points clear of danger.

"It's going very well - it would have been a different conversation back at the end of November, beginning of December but we've seen a big turnaround," Hoos told BBC's 72+: The EFL Podcast.

"Really, really pleased with how things are going, so fingers crossed, long may it continue."

Hoos, 57, credited "multiple factors" for the upturn in results, including a great effort from the performance department, recruitment team and medical staff, as well as the players and boss Cifuentes.

After stepping back from his role as CEO in January 2024, Hoos hired Christian Nourry as his replacement and praised the job the 27-year-old has done.

"With Christian, we've got a young, dynamic CEO who is very good," Hoos said, also citing Nourry's impressive understanding of data and analytics.

"As far as I'm concerned, he's been a really great appointment and the working relationship we've developed has been fantastic."

Hoos added: "Let's see where we can take this thing."

Listen to 72+: The EFL Podcast on BBC Sounds.

Portsmouth are looking to win three games on the bounce for the first time this season in the Championship when they welcome QPR to Fratton Park on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Pompey have moved seven points clear of the relegation zone after beating Cardiff and Oxford in their past two games and will hope to pull further away from danger.

The Hoops are 13th but only four points off the top six and still in contention for a play-off spot.

• After winning the reverse fixture 2-1 in October last year, Portsmouth will be looking to record a first league double over QPR since the 1961-62 season.

• QPR are unbeaten across their past three visits to Fratton Park to face Portsmouth in the league (W1 D2), since a 3-0 defeat in August 1998.

• Following wins over Cardiff and Oxford, Portsmouth are looking for three consecutive three Championship victories for the first time since winning six in a row in February/March 2011.

• QPR have won six of their nine Championship matches in 2025 (L3), with only Leeds (21), Sheffield United (21) and Coventry (19) winning more points so far this year than the Hoops (18).

• Ilias Chair has been directly involved in six goals in his past nine Championship appearances for Queens Park Rangers (2 goals, 4 assists) although he's yet to score an away goal this season.