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

Derby County will be looking to pick up an important victory on Saturday when they travel to Loftus Road to take on Queens Park Rangers.

The visitors currently sit eighth in the Championship table and are four points off the playoffs, while the hosts are 13th.

Match preview

QPR are without a win in their last four games and will be keen to emerge victorious in their final home match this season.

The R's were beaten 2-1 by Swansea City on Tuesday thanks to a goal from Ronald and a controversial Zan Vipotnik penalty, while Rhys Norrington-Davies netted a late consolation goal.

Manager Julien Stephan felt his side "didn't take enough risk with the first pass" after conceding inside the first two minutes and he was furious about the penalty, with Swansea boss Vitor Matos even admitting it should not have been given as the incident appeared to occur outside the box.

However, Stephan was happy with the way his players responded to going 2-0 down, stating that they "tried to give everything to score one goal and the second one".

Derby, meanwhile, need to win on Saturday to keep their playoff hopes alive with just two games left to play this season.

The Rams suffered a major blow on Tuesday as they were beaten 2-1 by Norwich City, with Mohamed Toure and Liam Gibbs on target for the Canaries and David Ozoh scoring for Derby.

Manager John Eustace was not happy with the goals his side conceded, branding them "really poor", but said he was "really pleased" with the effort and attitude of his players.

It is worth noting that Derby have lost their last three away games, although they are looking to do the double over QPR this season for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign.

Queens Park Rangers Championship form:

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Derby County Championship form:

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Team News

QPR are without the likes of Kwame Poku, Jake Clarke-Salter, Ziyad Larkeche, Jimmy Dunne, Koki Saito and Karamoko Dembele through injury.

Steve Cook has likely played his last game for the club after it was announced that he will be leaving when his contract expires and Tylon Smith is likely to replace him against Derby.

Paul Smyth is also expected to come into the side for Poku, who picked up a hamstring injury against Swansea.

Derby, meanwhile, are missing Patrick Agyemang, Callum Elder, Rhian Brewster and Bobby Clark through injury.

Derry Murkin picked up a knock against Norwich and is expected to be replaced at left-back by Craig Forsyth, while top scorer Carlton Morris will once again lead the line.

Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:

Walsh; Adamson, Edwards, Smith, Norrington-Davies; Vale, Hayden, Morgan, Smyth; Kolli, Burrell

Derby County possible starting lineup:

Zetterstrom; Ward, Langas, Clarke, Forsyth; Travis, Ozoh; Brereton-Diaz, Szmodics, Banel; Morris