The Pre-Match Warm Up: QPR v MK Dons. Take Two

Details

Published on Tuesday, 17 January 2012 11:00

Written by Ron Norris

The draw at MK Dons proved to be Neil Warnock’s last bow as QPR boss which means Mark Hughes becomes the latest in a long line of men to attempt to guide a Rangers side to victory in this most cursed of competitions. Is Tuesday finally going to be our night?




Match: Queens Park Rangers v MK Dons
Venue: Loftus Road
Competition: The FA Cup Third Round Replay
Date: Tuesday 17th January 2012
Kick off time: 8pm

With this game coming hot on the heels of Sunday’s Newcastle match Hughes is bound to make changes, particularly with a real six pointer on the horizon next weekend.

He is without the same bunch of players though, Adel Taarabt and Armand Traore remain on international duty at The African Nations Cup and with Alejandro Faurlin out of the season and Joey Barton serving the last of his three match ban it will once again be midfield where Hughes will have the most concerns.

Barton will return against Wigan on Saturday so perhaps Akos Buzsaky will be retained in the central role he fulfilled at St James Park for now whilst the likes of DJ Campbell, Tommy Smith, Hogan Ephraim, Matt Connolly and Federico Macheda will all be hoping to get a chance to impress their new boss.

MK Dons had the weekend off after their League One clash with Carlisle was postponed due to a frozen pitch (does a new stadium like theirs not have under-soil heating by the way?) as a result their squad will be fresh for this one and boosted by the return of striker Charlie McDonald who has recovered from the knee injury that kept him out of the first tie ten days ago.

Gary MacKenzie is their only real concern, the defender was set to miss Saturday’s game against Carlisle with a groin problem but the extra few days off might just prove long enough for him to shake that off and take his place in the starting eleven.




The postponement of their game on Saturday means Tuesday will be the first time MK Dons have played since the original draw with us the previous weekend. That leaves them on a run of just one defeat in the last twelve games in all competitions

This strong run has seen them rise to fifth in League One, helped in no small part by a fantastic run of five straight league victories between the end of November and start of December.

Their FA Cup journey started back in November too when a 6-0 home win over Nantwich Town sent them into the second round. That draw pitted them against Barnet in December and they came away from Underhill with a 3-1 victory before facing QPR at Stadium MK and coming mere minutes from a big cup upset on the day.




The 1-1 draw between these two sides is the only game we’ve ever met in since MK Dons were formed.




A journeyman non-league player with a number of clubs such as Prescott Cables, St Helens Town and Kidsgrove Athletic after a back injury curtailed his hopes of a professional career, Karl Robinson began his coaching in the Liverpool Academy where he worked for eight years.

It was there he formed a relationship with then Liverpool midfielder Paul Ince who later brought him to MK Dons as a first team coach when he was appointed manager in 2007. He followed his boss to Blackburn and stayed there under Ince’s successor Sam Allardyce before re-joining Ince for his second spell at MK Dons in 2009, this time promoted to assistant manager.

When Ince resigned after the conclusion of the 2009/10 campaign Robinson stepped up to take charge. Aged just 29 his first full season as manager was a real success and he guided his team into the play offs. Although they were beaten by Peterborough he had helped restore the momentum MK Dons had enjoyed in the last few years that had begun to stall slightly under Ince’s second tenure.




Mark Hughes becomes the seventh man since Gerry Francis to try and win an FA Cup tie as QPR manager after Ian Holloway, John Gregory, Luigi De Canio, Paulo Sousa, Paul Hart and Neil Warnock all failed to do so.

This is the third FA Cup third round replay QPR have tried to navigate in the last four seasons.

MK Dons have never beaten a higher division side in this competition.




I enjoyed a 17 year football career and played over 500 league games but only wore four different club shirts.

I spent six years at my first club and another six at my second before settling in W12 for three seasons between 2001 and 2004 where I was a consistent presence despite never truly being a fan favourite.

I finished my career at MK Dons making 39 appearances before retiring and taking a youth coaching role at Tottenham.

The answer from the last who am I was Kevin Brock




Danny Gabbidon
"Cup runs can be a bit of a distraction when you are not doing well in the league but it can also work the other way. It can act as a springboard to go on a winning run and that is how we are looking at it.

"We want to put in a good performance and win the game.

"In all honesty this is probably another fixture that we didn't need, but we haven't won for a few games now and this is a chance for us to get into a winning mentality. A victory would certainly put some confidence back into the team going into Saturday's game against Wigan.

"MK Dons are a good side though, we knew that ahead of the original tie because they are doing well in the league and they play good football. They didn't look out of place against us at their place and we know we have no right to win this match.

"We need to make sure we impose ourselves on them. It is going to be a tough game and we are going to have to play well to beat them."




A first home match for the new manager and some cheap tickets on offer to watch it, for the first time in a very long time there are actually some good reasons to go and see a QPR FA Cup tie.

Whilst not really setting the world on fire at St James Park QPR did improve on recent performances and there were positives to draw out of yet another defeat. It also demonstrated what we already knew; whilst our squad might be big on numbers it lacks quality for this level.

Truth be told there was only so much Mark Hughes, or indeed Neil Warnock, would have been able to do with the options available to him on Sunday. We all know we need heavily strengthening and can only hope some of the surgery begins before Wigan arrive on Saturday.

The positives on Sunday for me were the amount of chances we created and the fact we actually got in some dangerous positions. The worry was the sheer lack of zip and pace in the side and even looking down our missing list I’m not sure who’s going to provide much of that from the current bunch.

Everyone says we lack confidence so let’s hope we do it on Tuesday night and get a winning feeling back in amongst the squad. We’re not going to win The FA Cup, even if we do beat MK Dons we’ll probably go out in the next round, but victory in this one could yet prove to be the most important one this season.

That’s why I’m backing us to win this match, I don’t think it’ll be big and I don’t think we’ll blow MK Dons away but for the first time in ages I really think QPR will be in the fourth round. The ten quid bet this time goes on a 2-0 home win with odds of 15/2.


Don’t forget you can follow all the action from Loftus Road via our Twitter feed, just clink the link below to follow @qprnet


#mce_temp_url# 

Share this post