Queens Park Rangers

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.

Image source, Getty Images

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.

Image source, Getty Images

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."

Image source, Rex Features

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.

John Eustace takes charge of Derby County for the first time as the Rams head to London to face Queens Park Rangers on Friday (20:00 GMT).

While County are fourth-bottom and only out of the relegation zone on goal difference, they have drawn their past two games, following a run of seven straight defeats since the Boxing Day victory over West Bromwich Albion.

QPR have lost three of their past four to fall to 13th but remain just six points adrift of the play-off places.

• QPR have won four of their past six league games against Derby County (L2), as many victories as across their prior 20 meetings with the Rams combined (D8 L8).

• Derby County have won just two of their past 10 away league games against QPR (D4 L4), with both of those victories coming via 1-0 scorelines in December 2016 and January 2021.

• QPR have won six of their past seven home league games (L1), one more than in their previous 23 matches (W5 D9 L9).

• Since a 2-1 win at Coventry in November, Derby are winless in their past eight away league games (D3 L5).

• QPR have won only one of their past 12 league games against newly promoted sides (D3 L8), though that win came in their most recent game against Oxford United in December (2-0).

Image source, Rex Features

QPR goalkeeper Paul Nardi says he remains upbeat despite his side's late 1-0 defeat at Coventry City on Tuesday evening.

The 30-year-old made a string of saves to keep the Sky Blues at bay, and looked set for an eighth Championship clean sheet of the season, before Bobby Thomas' stoppage-time goal.

"This morning we saw some positive things with the gaffer, so we don't have to see everything back," Nardi told BBC Radio London on Wednesday.

"I think we did some very good things but it (the loss) is football and we have to accept this."

The R's are currently 13th in the Championship table, four points of the play-off places.

Despite three defeats in their past four matches, Nardi says he is looking forward to Friday's home match against Derby County.

"It's the QPR mentality to fight for every ball, to fight in every game, and I think we have to continue in this way," he added.

"We already want it to be Friday. It is exciting even more to get back home. We want to play even more after a last-minute defeat. We want to go again."

Image source, Getty Images

QPR have to move on quickly from the disappointment of conceding a late goal in their 1-0 defeat by Coventry in the Championship, according to head coach Marti Cifuentes.

Sky Blues defender Bobby Thomas headed home the only goal in the fifth minute of injury time to condemn the Londoners to a third league defeat in their past four matches.

"We have been on the other side celebrating late goals but today is the opposite and we have to learn from it and move on," Cifuentes told BBC Radio London.

"The whole changing room was angry and disappointed which is how I want to see my players when we lose a game like this. Most importantly, good teams react strongly after defeats and understand what is needed to change the dynamic.

"We are a young team as you can see from the players we had on at the end and usually you grow a lot through pain and it's something we'll learn quite well this season."

QPR host struggling Derby in the Championship on Friday 14 February.

Image source, Getty Images

Queens Park Rangers head coach Marti Cifuentes says the Championship table has an "artificial" look for his side at the moment despite their gathering play-off momentum.

The Hoops, in 13th, take on fellow top-six challengers Coventry City on Tuesday with both teams only three points adrift of that leading group.

But Cifuentes is not interested in making any predictions with 15 games still to play for his side and another set of matches to come in the division on Wednesday.

"It's an artificial situation based on us having played one more game than many other other teams," he told BBC Radio London.

"I'm not thinking about the play-offs, I'm not thinking about the table. The reality comes in the last six games of the season and perhaps then is when you have a look and say 'that's where we are and that's what we need to do'."

What Cifuentes is more interested in at the moment the progress his side has made after narrowly avoiding relegation last season thanks to finishing the campaign with three straight wins.

"The target this season was very clear - to improve on what we did last season and not to suffer as much as we did.

"We're putting ourselves in a good position to do that but there is still a lot of games to go."

In QPR's way next are the Sky Blues, whose four-game winning run under Frank Lampard ended against stylish Leeds United last Wednesday.

After back-to-back defeats, QPR responded by beating Blackburn last week and Cifuentes says that trait of character is what he wants to see maintained.

"It was one of the strengths we had last season and and we've shown it again this season," he said.

"They are very resilient mentally. If we get beaten it's by a small margin and that shows a lot about the commitment and their mental strength.

"Frank has done really well [at Coventry]. They've won four of the last five and are on a really strong trend."