Preview: Queens Park Rangers vs. Derby County - prediction, team news, lineups

Queens Park Rangers welcome Derby County to Loftus Road on Tuesday night in a battle of two Championship mid-table outfits.

The West London club played out a drab draw with Nottingham Forest on Saturday, while Wayne Rooney's panenka was the highlight as the Rams drew with Fulham at Pride Park.

Match preview

QPR might be the third-highest scorers in the Championship this season but they have drawn a blank in three of their last four league games.

Mark Warburton's men were particularly toothless against Forest, largely being restricted to half chances, but the bright spark for them was, once again, Ebere Eze.

The 21-year-old, who has scored 11 goals for the club this season, was at the heart of everything good they were able to produce and they will be relying on him to deliver the goods against a Derby side who are prone to getting caught by pace on the counter.

Should Warburton's men pick up a win in midweek, they will move above Phillip Cocu's side in the table.

The last match between these teams finished 1-1 and you have to go back to 2016 for the last time that Derby tasted defeat in this fixture.

Rooney's arrival in January has sparked an improvement in the Rams' performances, with the former England captain pulling the strings behind the striker, chipping in with goals and creating more opportunities for the likes of Tom Lawrence and Martyn Waghorn.

The former Manchester United striker's ability with the dead ball has also proved crucial and it could again on Tuesday against a QPR outfit who have struggled against more physically imposing teams.

Derby have not won in three but taking all three points back up north on Tuesday night would help keep their faint play-off hopes alive.

Queens Park Rangers competition form: LLLDWD

Derby County competition form: LWWLDD Derby County form (all competitions): WWWLDD

Team News

QPR have a fully-fit squad for Tuesday night's game after they came through the game with Forest unscathed but Warburton may be tempted to make a couple of changes.

Angel Rangel has perfomed strongly at right-back since returning from injury but the veteran Spaniard may be rested, with Todd Kane the obvious candidate to deputise for him.

Ilias Chair has provided energy and pace from the bench in recent games and the youngster may be preferred to Marc Pugh on the left.

Derby remain without the services of Tom Huddlestone, Duane Holmes, Krystian Bielik and George Evans for this game.

Andre Wisdom managed the full 90 minutes against Fulham despite being a doubt but he could be rested here to prevent a recurrence of his injury problems.

Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup: Kelly; Kane, Hall, Barbet, Manning; Ball, Cameron; Osayi-Samuel, Eze, Chair; Hugill

Derby County possible starting lineup: Hamer; Bogle, Davies, Clarke, Forsyth; Bird, Shinnie; Jozefzoon, Rooney, Lawrence; Waghorn

We say: QPR 1-2 Derby County

Both sides have been impossibly hard to predict this season but Derby look the more impressive of the two and QPR's issues up front look set to continue on Tuesday night.