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Preview: Queens Park Rangers vs. Leeds United

Sports Mole previews Saturday's early Championship kickoff as Queens Park Rangers host Leeds at Loftus Road.

Queens Park Rangers will look to get their automatic promotion bid back on track when they host Leeds United at Loftus Road on Saturday.

Harry Redknapp's side have suffered three straight defeats and only picked up a single point in February, leaving them seven points behind second-placed Burnley.

In-form Derby County also moved above the R's during their poor spell, so they now sit down in fourth in the Championship table, although they do have a game in hand over the three teams above them.

Their 3-1 defeat at the hands of Reading last Sunday was their first home league defeat in five matches and just their second of the entire season, with only leaders Leicester City having amassed more points in front of their own fans.

However, they have now conceded six goals in their last two home encounters having only let in six in their 15 home league matches prior to that.

They do still boast the league's stingiest defence, although their tally of 25 goals conceded is now just one better than Burnley.

Goalscoring has been a consistent worry for the Hoops this season and only two teams outside the bottom five of the table have found the net fewer times than them in the current campaign.

The hosts will have loanee Ravel Morrison available once again for the match, but defender Max Ehmer has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury while Joey Barton is suspended.

Leeds, meanwhile, still have faint aspirations of making a late charge for the playoffs this season, and victory on Saturday would be a massive boost to their chances.

They are currently down in 11th place, seven points behind sixth-placed Reading, but they have a game in hand over the Royals and could move as high as eighth should results go their way this weekend.

Brian McDermott's side have turned things around in recent weeks with just one defeat in their last five outings following a run of five straight losses in all competitions.

Their away record will still be a worry, however, as they have only scored in one of their last five matches on the road and picked up a solitary victory in their last seven.

The Whites will be boosted by the loan signings of Jack Butland, who made an impressive debut in the goalless draw against Middlesbrough, and Connor Wickham, who joined from Sunderland earlier this week.

Wickham is likely to slot straight into the team alongside Ross McCormack, who is the league's leading scorer with 22 goals.

Recent form

QPR: WWDLLL

Leeds: LDWWLD

Possible starting lineups

QPR: Green; Onuoha, Dunne, Hill, Traore; Hughes, Jenas, Morrison, Carroll; Doyle, Hoilett

Leeds: Butland; Wootton, Pearce, Peltier, Warnock; Kebe, Austin, Murphy, Stewart, Wickham; McCormack

Sports Mole says: 1-0


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Brian McDermott. manager of Leeds United looks on during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United at Hillsborough Stadium on January 11, 2014
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leicester CityLeicester443041086394794
2Leeds UnitedLeeds44279880374390
3Ipswich TownIpswich432611685533289
4Southampton442591085612484
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4420121267442372
6Norwich CityNorwich442191477611672
7Hull City441912136556969
8Coventry CityCoventry4317121468551363
9Middlesbrough44189176460463
10Preston North EndPreston44189175661-563
11Cardiff CityCardiff44195205061-1162
12Bristol City441611175147459
13Sunderland44168205251156
14Swansea CitySwansea441511185762-556
15Watford441217155958153
16Millwall441411194355-1253
17Stoke CityStoke441311204460-1650
18Queens Park RangersQPR441311204157-1650
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn441310215874-1649
20Plymouth ArgylePlymouth441212205869-1148
21Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds44138233968-2947
22Birmingham CityBirmingham441210224864-1646
23Huddersfield TownHuddersfield44917184774-2744
RRotherham UnitedRotherham44412283285-5324


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