Town Look for Home Improvement Against QPR Friday, 25th Nov 2016 06:00 Boss Mick McCarthy admits that opposition sides will be coming to Portman Road believing they can claim all three points with the Blues, who are visited by QPR tomorrow, having continued last season’s inconsistent home form this term. Town’s home record of won 15, drew five and lost only three was the second best in the Championship behind Middlesbrough on goal difference alone during their 2014/15 play-off season. But last season’s home record - won nine, drew eight, lost six - was only the division’s ninth best and they picked up 15 fewer points at Portman Road as they missed out on the top six by one place and four points. This term the Blues’ Championship home record stands at won three, drawn four and lost two, most recently last week’s 2-0 loss to Nottingham Forest. McCarthy admits that Portman Road by no means holds the fear factor it might once have done. “I don’t think it can, we’ve drawn one and lost one [in the last two], we’ve drawn with Villa and drawn with Norwich and drawn with Brighton, albeit they’re three of the teams I still think will be up near the top. I thought they were good performances. “No, teams will be saying, ‘Get down here, have a fast start, the crowd will turn on them, they won’t be playing with any confidence and we’ve got a chance of beating them’, that's what they'll be saying.” McCarthy is sure his friend Ian Holloway, fresh from last week’s 2-1 victory over Norwich City in the first game of his second stint as QPR boss, will be looking to exploit that on Saturday. “It wouldn’t be being particularly clever if he’s watched our last games, which I’m sure he will have done, he’ll have had a scout here. Anybody would be doing that,” McCarthy added. While he says confidence at Town isn’t as fragile as outsiders might think - “No change with me, not at all” - McCarthy was disappointed not to have built on the 2-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday when Forest visited last week. He says the visitors' goal within seconds of the kick-off was key: “There was some positivity because we played well and won [Hillsborough]. “But after 19 seconds we conceded a goal. It’s completely skewed the game. It’s really hard to recover and even then the second one was a disgrace to give away. We should never have conceded that. “We should have made sure we didn’t concede that by marking and being back behind the ball and that’s the one that caused the most problems. “At half-time, if we were 1-0 down, ‘OK, we were caught cold, it’s a horrible start but…’. The second goal changed the team-talk considerable, 2-0 is adding another bit to it.” McCarthy admits he’s been more frustrated this season than he has for some while during his four years at Portman Road. “I haven’t had many frustrations over the last three years and nine months, probably,” he reflected. “Let’s go back, October, September, it’s only probably this start of the season there’s been any frustrations with me at all. “Other than that it’s been pretty progressive I think, all the time - 14th, ninth, sixth, seventh was good.” Does he expect the game against Holloway's side, who are in 13th, four places and two points above the Blues, to be more open than the Forest match? “At Blackpool he was very, very open, he left three up and he was very attack-minded. “Whether he sets his team up the way he did against Norwich [in a 3-4-1-2 formation] and that’s a benchmark for what he’s going to do, we’ll see at three o’clock on Saturday.” Despite last week’s disappointing result, McCarthy seems unlikely to make too many changes. Bartosz Bialkowski will continue in goal with skipper Luke Chambers returning to right-back if, as expected, Adam Webster is fit again after his hamstring injury with Josh Emmanuel dropping to the bench. Jonas Knudsen will be at left-back with Christophe Berra in his usual left-sided central defensive role. In midfield, Cole Skuse is set to be in his regular holding role but McCarthy may look to make a change in the other central position with Andre Dozzell perhaps coming into the side for his first Championship start of the season for Teddy Bishop having impressed for the U23s in recent weeks. Kevin Bru and Jonny Williams are other alternatives, however, McCarthy has hinted that the Wales international may well again be among the subs. “Jonny has come on in the games when they’ve been broken, he came on in the second half last week and carries a threat,” he said. “It’s about the first time he’s really been as fit as he ought to be because of his injury.” Tom Lawrence is likely to start on the left and Grant Ward on the right, while David McGoldrick again seems set to be partnered by Freddie Sears from the start, although Leon Best, who McCarthy says can provide an attacking focal point, is available again after missing the Forest game with a knee problem. The Town boss says he’s been happy with McGoldrick’s performances since he returned from his ankle injury with the striker having come close to an equaliser against his old club Forest. “I’m really pleased with him,” he said. “He’s had a long time out but he’s been great, I’ve been delighted with him.
“I guess if he rolls it along the floor he scores but that’s easier said than done when you’ve just had to beat two or three people and create the chance for yourself. “But Didzy would be the first to say it, he didn’t [do everything right], the keeper made a good save, but it was a good height for him, he could have rolled it in the bottom. “It was nine out of 10, everything except it didn’t go in the net. But the keeper made a good save, I have to be honest.” One player the Blues are likely to come up against is QPR striker Conor Washington, who was one of the frontmen Town targeted as a replacement for Daryl Murphy in August, although McCarthy says his interest wasn’t hugely significant. “We looked at loads of players and still are looking at loads of players, but not particularly [Washington], no,” he added. For QPR, midfielder Karl Henry is back from a one-match ban, while centre-half Steven Caulker is a doubt with a hip injury and full-back Jack Robinson is out due to a hamstring injury. However, nother defender Jake Bidwell will be back in the squad after a shoulder problem. Holloway says Town’s current position bears no comparison to the one McCarthy inherited when he took over four years ago. “I don’t see it as Mick being in a difficult situation at the moment, far from it,” he told the QPR official site. “They were in a difficult situation when he arrived there, when they were struggling towards the bottom of the table and he guided them to a strong finish. That was a remarkable piece of management. “They’ve competed ever since then, and Mick deserves credit for that. He’s one of my favourite people in the game.” Reflecting on the match, he added: “I’m excited about Ipswich — it’s the next challenge for us and one we’re looking forward to. “The most important thing is that we go there and give a good account of ourselves. We want to put our mark on the game against an Ipswich side who are always very tough to play against. “Yes, they’ve just lost at home 2-0 to Nottingham Forest, which would’ve been a disappointment to their supporters, but these results happen in this league from week to week. This is a very, very competitive league. “I want us to capitalise on any problems they might have and go on a run, which will build some confidence around here. “I’m fully expecting Ipswich to be back in contention in the top half of the table come the end of the season, so we know we’ve got a very tough game on our hands.” Town have won 29 of the previous encounters between the sides (27 in the league), Rangers 26 (24) and 18 (17) have ended in draws. The teams last met at Loftus Road in February when Matt Phillips netted in the 88th minute to hand QPR a 1-0 victory. But for an excellent goalkeeping display from Bartosz Bialkowski Town would have been behind at half-time, but the second period was a more even affair in which both teams had chances and Phillips headed home late on to claim the three points. On Boxing Day at Portman Road, skipper Luke Chambers headed home an injury time winner as Town came from behind to win 2-1. Junior Hoilett put the visitors in front in first-half injury time but Jonathan Douglas levelled on 77 before Chambers’s dramatic last-gasp winner. QPR’s Australian international midfielder Massimo Luongo joined Town on loan from Spurs in the summer of 2012 and made eight starts and three sub appearances, scoring once, before McCarthy curtailed his spell at Portman Road shortly after taking over. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, who is on a season-long loan at Gillingham, joined Rangers after being released by Bristol City in the summer of 2015. The former Arsenal youngster made 43 starts and 32 sub appearances for the Blues, scoring nine goals, between July 2011 and July 2013. Blues striker Leon Best was on loan at Loftus Road from Southampton between December 2004 and January 2005, making two starts and three sub appearances without scoring, while still-injured Town midfielder Giles Coke was with QPR as a youth player. Saturday’s referee is Andy Woolmer from Northamptonshire, who has shown 42 yellow cards and one red in 19 games so far this season. Woolmer’s most recent Town game was the pre-season friendly at Cambridge United in July, while his last competitive match was the 1-0 home victory over Nottingham Forest in March in which he booked Luke Hyam and four of the visitors. Prior to that he was in charge of the 2-1 FA Cup replay defeat at Portsmouth in January in which he red-carded Piotr Malarczyk for two bookable offences - the only yellow cards of the night - and also awarded a penalty against the Polish defender. Before that he took control of the 2-1 win at Wigan in September 2014 in which he booked only Tyrone Mings and Christophe Berra. Woolmer also refereed the 3-3 pre-season friendly draw at Notts County in July 2013 and the 3-0 home victory over Bristol City in the Championship in March 2012 in which he booked three Town players and four Robins. Squad from: Bialkowski, Gerken, Chambers (c), Emmanuel, Knudsen, Kenlock, Berra, Webster, Digby, Skuse, Douglas, Bru, Dozzell, Williams, Bishop, Benyu, Ward, Lawrence, McGoldrick, Sears, Best, Varney.
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