Queens Park Rangers

QPR head coach Julien Stephan spoke to BBC Radio London following Saturday's 2-1 Championship win over Lincoln City.

"It's a big win for us. We knew it could be tough game and it was tough," he said.

"They way that they play, it's always a fight against them and it was important to take control quickly at the beginning of the game. And that's what the players did perfectly in the first 20 or 25 minutes.

"We had full control but unfortunately after just one little mistake we conceded and the game changed a little bit in five or six minutes as they created momentum.

"We needed to speak with a lot of calm at half-time just to reassure the players.

"Even if the first five or six minutes of the second half were little difficult it was important to restart with the same desire to be dominant, to control the game and control the ball.

"They kept their confidence and continued to play in the same way and they scored a beautiful second goal – not only the finish, and not only the pass from Ilias Chair, but all the movement for me was perfect from the beginning of the situation."

Image source, Opta

Queens Park Rangers will seek to resume their Championship play-off push when they welcome Lincoln City to Loftus Road on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Rangers spurned a host of chances in Tuesday's 1-1 home draw against Burnley and slipped to 11th, their lowest position of the season, but still just two points outside the top-eight.

The Imps are 19th, five points above the relegation zone, after suffering a fifth defeat in seven games on Tuesday, going down 1-0 at Watford.

• This is just the fifth league meeting between QPR and Lincoln City, and first since a 5-0 win for the Hoops in April 1962.

• This is the first meeting between QPR and Lincoln in any competition since October 1971, with the Hoops winning 4-2 in a League Cup match.

• Only Burnley (7) have drawn more Championship games than QPR (6) this season, with five of the Hoops' last nine ending level (W2 L2).

• Lincoln have lost five of their past seven league games (W1 D1), as many as in their previous 42 (W28 D9).

• Richard Kone has been involved in more Championship goals than any other QPR player this season (5 – 4 goals, 1 assist), with all of these coming across his past three appearances.

QPR head coach Julien Stephan spoke to BBC Radio London after their 1-1 home draw with Burnley.

For a written selection of his quotes, click here.

Queens Park Rangers have suffered another injury blow, with striker Alfie Lloyd likely to miss the rest of 2026 with a suspected hamstring problem.

The 23-year-old was brought on as a substitute in the final 15 minutes of Saturday's 4-1 defeat at Southampton, but did not finish the game.

"It's a long-term injury," boss Julien Stephan said. "It will be difficult for him to come back before the end of the year."

It adds to the Championship club's health issues, with defender Amadou Mbengue ruled out for the rest of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

Full-back Tariq Lamptey, midfielder Nicolas Madsen and striker Rumarn Burrell are all sidelined until after this month's international break, but Stephan says he hopes they will be available to face Millwall on 21 November.

Defender Jake Clarke-Salter will also not be in the squad that hosts Burnley on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).

The Clarets are under new management, with Fabio Celestini earning a goalless draw against Portsmouth in his first game in charge.

Stephan admitted that will make Burnley something of an unknown quantity.

"We don't have a lot of information [on how Celestini plays], except the last one against Portsmouth," the QPR boss added.

"Can we use only this game to prepare our game? Not at all. They can change something, they can play differently, so it will be a big question of adaptation for us based on what we can see on the pitch.

"But the most important [thing] is just to stay focused on us, the way we want to play, how we want to attack, the way we want to defend.

"It will be just a question of adaptation based on their shape, based on the position of their players on the pitch."

QPR will aim to move into the Championship play-off places on Tuesday when they face Burnley at Loftus Road (19:45 GMT).

The Clarets are in West London hoping for a first win under new boss Fabio Celestini after he started with a goalless draw against Portsmouth on Saturday.

• QPR have won just one of their past seven league games against Burnley (D2 L4), a 2-1 away win in April 2023. They have failed to score in five of their past six against the Clarets.

• Burnley have lost just one of their past eight away league games against QPR (W4 D3), winning their past two visits by an aggregate score of 8-0.

• After a run of just one home win in seven league games (D3 L3), QPR have won their past two by an aggregate score of 9-1.

• Burnley have kept just one clean sheet in their past 25 away league games, a 4-0 win at Watford last month.

• Richard Kone has been involved in seven goals in his past seven home league starts for QPR (6 goals, 1 assist), netting a hat-trick in the opening 15 minutes last time out against Swansea.

Queens Park Rangers head coach Julien Stephan gives his reaction after QPR's loss to Southampton.

For a written selection of his quotes click here.

Image source, Opta

Southampton and QPR will seek to showcase their Championship promotion credentials as they meet at St Mary's on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Saints are sixth, three points outside the automatic promotion places after their 3-2 win at West Ham last Saturday, though their five game home winning streak was ended by a goalless draw against Bolton last time out at St Mary's.

QPR are level on points, two places back, after thrashing Swansea 5-0 last weekend, however the R's are winless in their past four on the road in the league.

• Southampton have won each of their past six league games against QPR, as many victories as across their prior 21 meetings with the Hoops combined.

• QPR have lost their past three away league games against Southampton, only once have they lost four in succession, doing so between 1957 and 1969.

• Southampton are unbeaten in their past 16 home league games (W12 D4), their longest since a run of 24 between December 2010 and December 2011.

• QPR have netted nine goals from set piece situations in the Championship so far this season – the joint-most of any side in the division alongside West Ham.

• Southampton have been in winning positions for 43.2% of their Championship matches so far this season – the highest percentage of any side in the competition.

Queens Park Rangers boss Julien Stephan has warned his team not to get carried away following the 5-0 win over high-flying Swansea City.

Richard Kone's hat-trick in the first 15 minutes last weekend set the R's on their way to what Stephan called a performance "close to perfection".

On Saturday, they travel to Southampton, who are sixth in the Championship, two places above QPR, but ahead of them only on goal difference because of Saints' four-point deduction.

And Stephan says they must stay focused and not complacent after their big win.

"The danger after a game like this is to stay with your head in the stars and think that it will be easy for the next one," he told BBC Radio London.

"The quality of the opponent [Southampton] forces us immediately to be very, very humble. Otherwise, if we don't do that, it will not be fine for us at the end of the game."

Stephan had plenty of praise for Southampton, calling them one of the best teams in the Championship.

"They had a penalty of four points at the beginning of the season, otherwise they could be second in the table with Middlesbrough," he said.

"They had some difficulty at the beginning of the season, but now they are at 100% in the last game against West Ham. They deserved their win.

"It's important to keep our ambition, for sure, but it's important as well to keep in our minds that we are the outsider.

"We know we have to play at 100 per cent in all parts of the pitch to try to have the best result."

Queens Park Rangers boss Julien Stephan spoke to BBC Radio London after his side's 5-0 win over Swansea City on Saturday.

For the match report and a written selection of his quotes click here.

Image source, Shutterstock

We asked you for your thoughts after Queens Park Rangers thrashed Swansea City 5-0 in the Championship on Saturday.

Here is what you had to say:

Antony: A brilliant display of quality passing and decisive finishing from the unfancied team who will likely win the Championship. A well deserved win and a great performance from the whole team.

Alf: Superb today, in all departments. Charles' ball skills are almost as good as what he does with his hands. The defensive unit was solid, the midfield had both bite and swagger, and up front we worked tirelessly. Excellence all over the park from the boys in hoops but I'd pick out Adamson at right-back, massively improved. Stephan has tinkered quite a bit but might have hit on a winning formula.

Matt: Incredible statement win with an injury-hit side. After some great games without the goals, this could be the moment we start putting teams away.

Jon: Good, not great performance but we were great going forward. Kone took his chances well and that will do him a world of good. Thought Kamara was excellent and ruled the midfield.

Colin: A big game for Richard Kone. Some of the QPR fans were giving him a hard time, saying not only should he not be in the team but not even in the Championship. I say get off the keyboard and support him. Magnificent performance by him.

Niall McCaughan
BBC Final Score reporter

Image source, Shutterstock

The Championship's tightest defence met the top half's lowest scorers at Loftus Road on Saturday.

Games involving Swansea had yielded the fewest goals so far this season and all the stats pointed to it being a close affair against Queens Park Rangers.

It wasn't.

It took just 14 minutes and 40 seconds for QPR to take a 3-0 lead, with striker Richard Kone getting all of them.

The Ivorian was so out of form and favour earlier this season, he wasn't even making the QPR squad, but in the midst of an injury crisis he answered his manager's call emphatically.

It's the earliest hat-trick in any of English football's top four divisions since Opta started keeping records in 2004.

This QPR side are missing attacking players like Nicolas Madsen, Rumarn Burrell and Ilias Chair, with Karamoko Dembele only just returning from a long-term knee issue, which has kept him out of the side since January.

To put five past a Swansea side who had only conceded eight goals all season before the weekend is impressive in its own right, let alone with what feels like a perpetual injury crisis for manager Julien Stephan.

Kone told me after the game he will be keeping his hat-trick ball on top of the new cupboard he recently bought, which seems pretty good timing.

But you could argue it's not perhaps as timely as his welcome return to form for this depleted QPR squad as they move just three points away from Swansea in the automatic promotion places.

Image source, Opta

QPR will hope to bounce back from a first defeat in six games when they host Championship leaders Swansea City on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 15:00 BST).

The R's lost 3-0 at Birmingham City last time out and start the weekend just outside the play-off places on goal difference.

Similarly, the Swans suffered their first loss in five games when they went down 1-0 at home to West Ham but still hold a one-point lead at the top of the table.

• QPR have failed to win any of their previous seven home league games against Swansea City (D3 L4), since a 4-0 victory in April 2019.

• Swansea City have won three of their past four league games against QPR (L1), as many victories as across their prior 11 meetings (D4 L4).

• QPR have won just one of their past seven league games (D4 L2), and could lose successive league games for the first time this season.

• Swansea have won six of their past eight league games on the road (D1 L1) and could win three in a row for the first time since October 2023.

• Swansea's league games this season have seen just 24 goals scored (16 for, 8 against), the fewest in the Championship, while QPR's games have seen 27 (15 for, 12 against), the joint-third fewest

Image source, Shutterstock

Queens Park Rangers have confirmed that defender Amadou Mbengue suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in the win over Derby County last Tuesday.

The 24-year-old Senegalese was stretchered off during the game and will now undergo surgery.

Rangers have not indicated a likely timeline for his absence.

Mbengue joined the R's in July 2025 from Reading and has played 53 times for the club.

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's 3-0 win for Birmingham City over fellow fast-starters QPR.

Here are some of your comments:

Birmingham fans

Matt: We are absolutely flying! I doubted Chris Davies a few times, but right now he is working miracles! He really has this team ticking and I'm so pleased for him! Keep it up Blues!

George: Top, top, top performance from Blues. It's the best I've seen them play since we were in the Premier League.

Martin: Very impressive - Rangers very drilled, organised but no match for Millar's individual brilliance.

David: What a job Davies is doing, we look a completely different team from last season.

David Y: Outstanding performance. Keep this up and we will get automatic promotion.

Image source, Shutterstock

QPR fans

Ken: I do not understand why Paul Smyth is played on the left side when he performs so much better and is always a threat and gives us so much on the right. Stupid, I think. This happened many years ago with Jamie Mackie. Wrecked him. Probably end mid-table again when our squad of players are so much better then that. Stephan baffles me.

Colin: Rangers started the brighter of the two teams and if Boy Kemper had taken his chance after 10 minutes it might been a very different result. Birmingham took their chances and Rangers, while they played well, did not. Hopefully some of the injured players will be back next week for our home game against Swansea.

Gary: Stephan just got it so wrong! Kolli up front on his own. Smyth looked totally wiped, Kone is so unfit, formation wrong, narrow formation for a wide pitch, so we looked stretched… Should have played 5-3-2. Oh well… BCFC played well and look good!

Jim: Absolutely no consistency... much too early to sit on their laurels.

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QPR boss Julien Stephan expressed his frustration with his side's performance at both ends of the pitch in their 3-0 defeat to Birmingham City.

The R's had gone five games unbeaten heading into Saturday's match against a side above them only on goal difference, but were firmly second best in the West Midlands.

Stephan told Radio London: "It's a tough result for us. I think we started the game well, the first 10 to 15 minutes we did very well and the first situation we had - the long throw - we had a huge, huge situation to take the lead, and we know how important it is in these types of games to take the lead.

"I'm disappointed more with how we conceded the first goal. It's a little bit of a lack of maturity in this situation. Today we concede three goals on transition, it's really unusual for us.

"Probably we concede more in one game than the last 10 games. This is the story of the game.

"We wanted to start strongly second half and we concede immediately the second goal. The players never gave up but probably we face an opponent today better than us in some details, more fresh than us as well - they had one more day to recover."

Birmingham City take a four-game unbeaten run into their home meeting with QPR on Saturday (15:00 BST).

QPR ended a streak of four successive draws when beating Derby County 4-1 on Wednesday.

• Birmingham have not conceded in any of their past three home league games against QPR (W2 D1) since a 2-1 defeat in January 2022.

• After losing this fixture 1-0 last season, QPR are hoping to avoid losing back-to-back league visits to Birmingham for the first time since October 2008.

• With 17 points through their opening 10 Championship matches this season (W4 D5 L1), Birmingham have made their best start at this level since 2016-17.

• Each of QPR's past three away league games have finished in stalemate; they have not drawn four successive league fixtures on their travels since November 2010.

• This season in the Championship, QPR have conceded just one goal from set pieces (including penalties) – the joint-fewest in the competition, alongside Sheffield United. They also remain one of five teams in the second tier yet to concede from a corner.