Town Out to Maintain Impressive Home Form Against QPR Tuesday, 26th Dec 2017 06:00 Boss Mick McCarthy is pleased to that the fixture computer handed Town a home fixture on Boxing Day and will be looking for his side to avenge September’s 2-1 defeat at Loftus Road when the Blues face QPR at Portman Road this afternoon. “Boxing Day at home, it’s always better than having to travel somewhere,” McCarthy said. “QPR have had mixed fortunes but they beat us their place so we’d like to repay the compliment today.” Reflecting on that game, the Blues manager felt the turning point was Jamie Mackie’s controversial goal just before the break with ex-Blues loanee Massimo Luongo appearing to handle in the build-up. “There wasn’t [a lot in it], there was a dodgy old decision, a handball just prior to their first goal. A lot happened afterwards, I know we perhaps should’ve, could’ve, ought to have stopped it still. But that was what opened us up. “And then after that there wasn’t a lot in it. It was a close game which is generally the case between mine and Ollie’s teams.” QPR, managed by McCarthy’s long-time friend and sparring partner Ian Holloway, are currently 18th in the table, nine points and eight places behind the Blues, having won their first away game of the season - and their first since February - 2-1 at Birmingham a fortnight ago. “I not going to say they’re similar to us because we’ve had a good record, but a bit of a mixed bag, a bit inconsistent,” McCarthy responded when asked what he’s made of the Hoops this season. “That just comes with uncertainty, I guess. They’ve had this [FFP] fine hanging over them and they’ve had some players coming in and they couldn’t get other players. “It’s just getting that consistency, but they’ve had some really good performances and good results. “And I know damned well that when his team comes here they’re going to fight tooth and nail because that’s what Ollie’s teams always do.” Town, who are unbeaten in four at Portman Road, winning three, having won seven of their 11 on their own turf overall, are an improved and more entertaining prospect at home this season, but McCarthy dismissed the suggestion that that’s down to a conscious move to be easier on the eye. “No, it’s because I’ve got better players,” he insisted. “There was some bonkers stuff levelled at me last year and I’m not having it that all of a sudden I’ve become this turgid, horrible coach that didn’t like scoring goals or playing entertaining football when I’ve won the Championship twice with as many points as anybody and scored as many goals as anybody with flying wingers. “I’ve got better players and as my old chairman [at Millwall] Mr [Reg] Burr used to say to me about his superstitions, ‘Do they work? They work better with a good team than they do with a bad team’. “And I’m generally a better coach or manager with a good team than a bad team and I’ve got better players.
“The two lads who have come in up front, Waggy and Joe, have made an immeasurable difference. Bersant Celina since getting in the team has made a huge difference. Ask any coach, any manager, the better players he’s got, the better manager he is.” McCarthy admits he’d like to see more fans coming through Portman Road’s gates given this season's form with only 13,832 having watched the 2-0 victory over Reading, the lowest attendance for a league game since the 1-0 victory over Swindon in October 1998. “Of course it would,” he continued. “But we can’t do anything, we’ve won seven out of the last 11 [at home] and I think they’ve been good performances, they’ve been exciting games, they’ve not been horrible one-nil-ers, scrapping through and hanging on. “I think we’ve been worth watching but I can’t do anything other than that, and neither can the lads. “Maybe some of them got sick of it last year, but it’s their team, their club, if they want to support it, they do. If they don’t, they don’t. “But I would also say, that crowd you just mentioned, it was the week before Christmas and it’s tough for people and maybe that does have an effect on it. Hopefully we can keep playing well and winning and we can win them all back.” McCarthy says he enjoys fixtures coming thick and fast during the festive period: “I like it, I’ve no problems with it. I’ve had people say to me recently, ‘You’re working at Christmas, five games in two weeks’. I say I’ve been doing it for 42 years, it’s pretty much the norm. “As I’ve said before, my kids, despite the fact I used to tell them lies saying I didn’t want to go into training, they fully understand that now, they’ve heard it from me. “I’ve had it the other way, I went to France, I played at Lyon and we closed for Christmas and I hated it. “I came home, I came home to this weather, I came home to going round seeing all my family and came home to flu and everybody feeling rough and being sick on Christmas Day and not feeling great. “And then I went back to Lyon thinking, ‘Wow, what the hell did I do that for? I wish we’d played’. I’ve no desire to see it shut, not at all, I’m happy to keep working over Christmas.” Bartosz Bialkowski will continue in goal but McCarthy may make changes at full-back. The Blues boss has tended to switch Jordan Spence and Dominic Iorfa at right-back when games have been coming thick and fast with the on-loan Wolves man available again having been ineligible against his parent side on Saturday. However, the Town boss has been pleased with Spence’s recent form, so may be loath to make the change: “I thought he was excellent against Reading, he’s been good for us, to be fair, but I think that was his best performance both offensively and defensively. “It’s a tough old gig for full-backs now. We saw Manchester City spend £175 million on three of them and he’d got one already and he’s got two for both positions. It’s a demanding position. But it was a good performance by him.” On the left, Jonas Knudsen missed the 1-0 defeat at Molineux as he was ill. Following the game McCarthy was hopeful the Danish international would be OK to return today but if not Myles Kenlock will keep his place. Skipper Luke Chambers and Adam Webster are set to continue as the centre-halves. In central midfield, Cole Skuse, who suffered an ankle injury againstthe Royals, seems likely to be fit enough to return alongside Callum Connolly with Kevin Bru dropping to the bench. Speaking on Saturday, McCarthy was unsure whether any of his other injured central midfielders would be fit enough to return to the squad. The Blues boss may look to rest one of the trio playing ahead of the deeper-lying midfield pair with David McGoldrick in line to come back in to the XI, probably for Bersant Celina on the left with Martyn Waghorn continuing in the central role and Grant Ward on the right. Joe Garner will continue as the lone out-and-out striker. QPR, who drew 1-1 at home to Bristol City on Saturday, have Mackie available again after a three-match ban, while defender Joel Lynch is out with an ankle problem and full-back James Perch is not yet ready for a first-team return after a long-term knee injury. Town have won 30 of the previous encounters between the sides (28 in the league), Rangers 28 (25) and 18 (17) have ended in draws. At Loftus Road in September, sub Celina celebrated his 21st birthday with a brilliant late goal but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Blues from falling to a 2-1 defeat. Mackie and Luke Freeman struck either side of the break to give Rangers a two-goal advantage before Celina smashed home his stunning strike to set up a nervy end for the home team, who held on to claim the three points and inflict Town's first away defeat in this year's Championship. In late November last year at Portman Road, goals from Ward, Luke Varney and Tom Lawrence saw Town to a 3-0 victory over QPR. Ward put the Blues ahead via a scuffed effort on 13, then Varney benefited from an error by visitors’ keeper Alex Smithies nine minutes after the break, before Lawrence sealed the win - which in the end could have been even more comfortable - on 61. QPR’s Australian international midfielder 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 still with QPR but out of manager Holloway’s plans, 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. QPR's Irish midfielder or striker Ryan Manning trained with the Blues academy when a schoolboy before joining the West London club's youth set-up. Saturday’s referee is Andy Davies from Hampshire, who has shown 48 yellow cards and no red in 12 games this season. Coincidentally, Davies took charge of the game between the sides at Loftus Road in September when he booked Connolly, Flynn Downes and one home player as well as making the error for Rangers’ opening goal. A month earlier he was the man in the middle for the 2-1 Carabao Cup defeat at Crystal Palace in which he again booked Downes but otherwise kept his cards in his pocket. His last Blues match before that was the 3-0 loss at Nottingham Forest on the final day of last season in which he cautioned Christophe Berra and Josh Emmanuel. Prior to that, he refereed the 3-0 home victory over Wigan in April, in which he yellow-carded Kenlock, Ward, Toumani Diagouraga and two Latics. He was also in charge of the 2-0 defeat at Huddersfield in January in which he booked Berra, Bru, Lawrence, Jonathan Douglas, Paul Digby and no home players. Davies has only taken charge of two other Town matches, both of which ended goalless and saw the opposition reduced to 10 men. He officiated in the 0-0 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion in September last year, in which he showed eight yellow cards, two of them and then a red to Seagulls midfielder Dale Stephens. Chambers, Emmanuel, Douglas and Lawrence were the Town players cautioned. Prior to that, he took control of the 0-0 home draw with Huddersfield in October 2015 when he red-carded Terriers striker James Vaughan for a second bookable offence in the final minute. Squad from: Bialkowski, M Crowe, Spence, Iorfa, Knudsen, Kenlock, Webster, Chambers, T Smith, Skuse, Connolly, Bru, Bishop, McDonnell, Blanchfield, Ward, Celina, McGoldrick, Sears, Garner, Waghorn, Morris.
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