Town’s Boxing Day game against QPR at Portman Road remains 0-0 at the break.

Teddy Bishop was handed his first start of the season as Mick McCarthy made five changes from the team which lost 1-0 at Wolves on Saturday.

Jonas Knudsen, who missed out at Molineux as he was ill, David McGoldrick, Dominic Iorfa and Freddie Sears also returned to the XI with Bersant Celina, Grant Ward, Jordan Spence and Myles Kenlock dropping to the bench and Kevin Bru out of the 18.

With Cole Skuse still sidelined with his ankle injury, Bishop, whose only other start in 2017 was at Rotherham in April, joined Callum Connolly in one of the deeper lying midfield roles with Sears and McGoldrick either side of Martyn Waghorn behind lone out and out striker Joe Garner.

For the visitors, who had gone 18 games and 50 years since last winning away on Boxing Day, Jordan Cousins came into the midfield for Bright Osayi-Samuel, who was among the subs.

Former Blues loanee Massimo Luongo also started, while Jamie Mackie missed out due to a glute injury despite having returned from a suspension.

Town dominated the early exchanges with Garner shooting over from a Waghorn knockdown in the third minute.

A minute later, McGoldrick was fed on the right of the area by Waghorn and struck a goal-bound effort which QPR keeper Alex Smithies saved down to his left.

From Waghorn’s corner, skipper Luke Chambers bundled a bouncing ball wide of the near post from six yards.

QPR began to see more of the ball but without creating a chance as the game moved past the 10-minute mark.

On 14 Luke Freeman played in Cousins inside the box after the former Arsenal youngster had found himself in space midway inside the Town half, but Chambers slid in to block as the former Charlton man shot.

Four minutes later, Bishop took himself past two defenders on halfway with a brilliant turn before being upended by Luongo. Josh Scowen was booked for kicking the ball away.

Knudsen joined him in the book in the 24th minute for hauling back a breaking Cousins. From the freekick, Freeman floated the ball to the far post from where Jake Bidwell volleyed from a tight angle and Bartosz Bialkowski palmed over. From the resultant corner., Alex Baptiste headed into the Town keeper’s arms.

QPR were by now in control having most of the ball with the Blues struggling to break into the Hoops’ half.

But as the game moved past the half hour mark Town began to regain the ascendency and on 33 McGoldrick curled a shot not too far beyond Smithies’s right post from just outside the box.

Idrissa Sylla volleyed over for QPR on 40 before Bishop, who had looked lively and had made headway running at the opposition, was replaced by Ward having picked up another injury. The 21-year-old made his way to the tunnel, clearly frustrated at having been forced off by another fitness problem.

In the final scheduled minute of the half, a Waghorn corner from the right ran loose inside the six-yard box at the near post but no Town player was able to get in a decisive touch.

In two minutes of injury time, with Town ending the half strongly, Garner cleverly backheeled towards Sears on the right of the box but the ball was intercepted, then Connolly hit a powerful shot from 25 yards which Smithies saved down to his left. The loose ball ran to the Blues right and Iorfa who teed-up Garner, who shot over.

Referee Andy Davies’s whistle ended a half of few chances at both ends. The Blues had started brightly, McGoldrick forcing Smithies into the game’s first save, but they subsequently allowed the visitors to get on top and Bidwell’s chance which Bialkowski turned over was the best opportunity of the period.

Town took charge again towards the break and were putting the Hoops under pressure in the minutes before the whistle.

The half’s big negative was Bishop being forced off, the midfielder, who underwent groin surgery in August, having spent so much of the last two and a half years on the sidelines.

Town: Bialkowski, Iorfa, Chambers (c), Webster, Knudsen, Connolly, Bishop (Ward 42), McGoldrick, Waghorn, Sears, Garner. Subs: M Crowe, T Smith, Celina, Spence, Kenlock, McDonnell.

QPR: Smithies, Baptiste, Onuoha (c), Robinson, Wszolek, Cousins, Luongo, Scowen, Bidwell, Freeman, Sylla. Subs: Lumley, Furlong, Hall, Washington, Smith, Chair, Osayi-Samuel. Referee: Andy Davies (Hampshire).

Photo: TWTD

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