QPR Faces Tough Challenge Against Championship Leaders West Brom
Queens Park Rangers head to the Championship leaders this weekend with something they have not had much of in recent seasons: quiet confidence.
On BBC Radio London’s latest QPR show, Izzy Gilligan and Andy Rowley picked over Wednesday night’s goalless draw at Charlton Athletic, a result that underlined both the team’s resilience and its limits.
QPR travelled to The Valley stripped of attacking flair. Ilias Chair, Richard Kone, Koki Saito and Kwame Poku were all missing through injury, leaving the Rs short of creativity and cutting edge in the final third. A 0-0 felt almost inevitable.
Yet Rowley sees a bigger picture.
“Given the way people were talking about QPR at the beginning of the season, I think they've done very well at the start of the campaign,” the BBC commentator said, pointing to a side that has quietly rebuilt its reputation after a summer of doubts.
That draw at Charlton slots into a pattern. QPR have become hard to beat, especially on the road. They remain unbeaten away from home at the start of this season and, as Rowley noted, they “could've had three wins in a row away” with a bit more ruthlessness.
Now comes the real examination: West Bromwich Albion away on Saturday.
A trip to the top
The Baggies have burst out of the blocks and sit top of the Championship. The Hawthorns has its edge back, and Rowley is under no illusions about the scale of the assignment.
“It's looking like quite a tough challenge given the way West Brom have started,” he said. “They're a tough nut to crack and they will have the home support behind them.”
This is the kind of fixture that exposes pretenders. Leaders at home. Form team. Big crowd. Early-season optimism swirling around the place.
Yet QPR are not heading north to make up the numbers.
Rowley was clear on that point: “I don't think QPR are really fearing going anywhere at the moment.” That away record backs him up. The Rs have travelled well, shown discipline without the ball, and found a stubborn streak that was missing not so long ago.
The hope now is that the cavalry returns. If even one or two of Chair, Kone, Saito or Poku make it back in time, the attacking options look very different. Rowley believes that could tilt the balance.
“I think they'll go there with confidence,” he said, “and there's just that hope they will get a couple of those players back to strengthen those options in attack.”
Former Hoops forward Bradley Allen also joined reporter Phil Parry to weigh in, bringing the perspective of a man who knows what it takes to play up front for QPR and what it means to walk into a league leader’s stadium with something to prove.
So QPR arrive at The Hawthorns unbeaten away, patched up but believing. West Brom stand top of the table, in form and backed by a home crowd expecting another statement win.
Something has to give.
