As the Championship restarts on Saturday, rock-bottom Barnsley travel to The Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium to take on QPR behind closed doors.
Barnsley will be looking to repeat their previous success against the West London side, as they beat them 5-3 in December with a Conor Chaplin hattrick being enough to cancel out Luke Amos’ double.
The victory set up the Tyke’s to get their first back to back league wins of the season, as they went on to beat Millwall, however they have only won four league games since then, going into the break off the back of two defeats.
QPR on the other hand, went into the indefinite pause at the peak of their performance, having not lost in six games, leaving them six points off the play-off places in 13th.
It isn’t just the R’s future that is on the line this weekend though, their visitors will also be full of fight as a win could take them one place in the right direction, off the bottom of the table.
Despite QPR sitting 11 points above Barnsley, and looking the stronger side in the league, this week’s friendlies in preparation for the Championships’ return suggest otherwise.
The Tyke’s beat Premier League side Sheffield United 2-0, whilst QPR struggled to hold their own against local rivals Chelsea, losing 7-1.
Barnsley’s victory against the Blades should leave them full of optimism for their trip south, and their manager, Gerhard Struber, has announced everyone is fit for the game.
Mark Warburton’s side, however, will start their chase for promotion without midfielder Geoff Cameron, who faces a long-awaited one games suspension for his red card in their clash with Preston North End back in March.
With both teams having their futures riding on the game, and neither side being known for keeping a clean sheet, in true Championship style it is sure to be a high scoring close game despite the gap in the table.
Match preview written by Sophie Reynolds.
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