Queens Park Rangers

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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."

Image source, Rex Features

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.

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Bottom side QPR are on a run of 11 games without victory (D5 L6) and welcome a Stoke City team who have lost just one of their last eight (W3 D4) to Loftus Road on Saturday.

The Hoops have only won once so far this season and are five points adrift at the bottom, while the Potters are four points clear of the drop zone and six off the play-offs.

• QPR have won just two of their last six league games against Stoke City (D1 L3), failing to score in four of those matches.

• Stoke City have won just one of their last seven away league games against QPR (D4 L2), with both of their losses across that time coming via a 4-2 scoreline.

• QPR have spent just 5.2% of their Championship matches leading this season, 9% fewer than any other side (Plymouth second-fewest with 14.3%).

• Stoke City have lost just one of their last eight Championship matches (W3 D4), having lost five of their previous six games before this run.

• No player has more Championship assists this season than Stoke's Bae Jun-Ho (5), with three of those assists coming from corners, the joint most of any player along with Derby's Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.

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QPR forward Karamoko Dembele will be out until February after undergoing knee surgery.

The 21-year-old, who is on loan from French side Brest, had scored one goal in 10 Championship starts for the R's.

He has not played since the 1-1 draw with Coventry City on 22 October and is the latest Rangers player to be forced out with injury.

Michael Frey, Jake Clarke-Salter and Ilias Chair are not expected to return until early next month.

But QPR have been boosted by the news that Joe Walsh, Morgan Fox and Kenneth Paal are available to face Stoke City this weekend while Jack Colback could feature next week.

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QPR defender Liam Morrison continued his rehabilitation from a knee injury by featuring for the London club's development squad in a friendly against Crystal Palace.

The Scottish under-21 international had surgery in September, having only featured in QPR's league cup wins over Cambridge United and Luton Town the previous month.

Morrison did appear as a substitute for the final 10 minutes of last weekend's 2-0 Championship defeat by Leeds as he looks to regain full match fitness.

On Friday, the centre-back played 60 minutes of the behind-closed-doors friendly at Rangers' TSG Training Centre, which Palace won 2-1.

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Former Queens Park Rangers head coach Gareth Ainsworth is back in a job.

Ainsworth was sacked by the Rs last October after a run of nine Championship games without a win left them six points from safety.

The 51-year-old had only been appointed in the February, following 11 years at Wycombe.

Ainsworth won only five of his 28 games in charge and the Rs lost six consecutive matches to finish his reign in 22nd place and with just eight points from 14 games at the start of last season.

On Wednesday afternoon Ainsworth, who has been working in the media, was named as the new boss of Shrewsbury, who sit bottom of League One..

Salop were looking to replace Paul Hurst, whose second spell ended last week after just seven months as head coach.

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Ilias Chair will definitely miss QPR's Championship game at Leeds on Saturday.

The forward was forced off at the start of the second half during Tuesday's 4-1 home defeat by Middlesbrough.

"He was not very good after the game, he had a lot of pain in his knee," QPR boss Marti Cifuentes told a pre-match press conference.

"He went for some tests and we will know more after that."

Cifuentes is hopeful of having some of his injured players back sooner rather than later with Kenneth Paal, Morgan Fox and Michael Frey all nearing a return.

"We know Paal, Fox and Frey are in the last part of their recovery, we will see if they manage to be available for this game or after the international break,” Cifuentes added.

"Harrison Ashby had some tightness in his hamstring but could play against Leeds."

QPR are 10 games without a league win, losing five of those but the head coach is confident they can get something out of their trip to Elland Road.

"We cannot choose the schedule, we know it is going to be tough but it's 11 against 11 and I'm very competitive," the Spaniard said.

"If I wasn't confident then I shouldn't be here, I believe in my players and of course we know we are in a difficult situation but the next opportunity is the best one to turn the dynamic."

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Queens Park Rangers are second from bottom and without a win in their last nine games (D5 L4), having picked up just one victory so far this season.

Middlesbrough have only won one of their last five (D1 L3) and are in need of points to keep in touch with the play-off spots.

• The away team have won four of the last seven league meetings between QPR and Middlesbrough (D1 L2).

• Middlesbrough are looking to win consecutive away league games against QPR for just a second time, also doing so in January 2018.

• QPR have failed to win any of their last seven league games in midweek (D4 L3) since beating Stoke 4-2 at home in November 2023.

• Middlesbrough won both league matches in London last season, beating Millwall 3-1 and QPR 2-0. They could win three consecutive such games for the first time since February 2012.

• Middlesbrough's Finn Azaz has been involved in eight goals in his 16 away appearances for Boro in the Championship (5 goals, 3 assists), five of which have come in his last seven such games (2 goals, 3 assists).

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