Wolves v QPR Preview

Posted on | April 17, 2009 | No Comments

Molineux could be holding its own promotion party here at the end of this game, with Wolves knowing that victory will guarantee their promotion to the top flight. However, QPR certainly won’t make it easy, with the club in turmoil following Paulo Sousa’s recent departure and caretaker manager Gareth Ainsworth will be hoping to impress his board of directors.

Wolves have sat at the top of the tree for pretty much the whole season and look set to finally clinch their promotion to the Premiership. There have been one or two uncertain moments in there, but on the whole Mick McCarthy’s men have had a pretty consistent season and it looks as though their investment in player acquisitions is paying off. They come into this game having won four of their last five games and if they can add to that tally, they’ll be too far out of reach of both Sheffield United and Cardiff who occupy the 3rd and 4th positions. A draw or even defeat could be enough to take them up, although they’ll also know that the title will pretty much be in the bag should they gain all three points.

The funny thing is, their opponents QPR were tipped by the bookies as favorites for the title at the start of the season. Backed by multi-billionaires, the idea was that Rangers would be effectively buying their success although as they’ve found out, that’s completely not the case. Having sacked Iain Dowie earlier in the season, they’ve now terminated the contract of his replacement Paulo Sousa meaning that Gareth Ainsworth is once again in his familiar role of caretaker manager. It looks as though the Loftus Road outfit will just have to settle for a mid-table finish though, with the club sat in 10th on 60 points with no hope of the play offs and well clear of relegation.

Mick McCarthy has been handed a huge boost coming into this game with the news that Sylvan Ebanks-Blake looks set to start. The striker, who is the division’s top scorer with twenty four goals, has missed the last three games and McCarthy is likely to throw him straight back in for this crunch game. However, he won’t be able to return to the successful partnership he’d developed with Chris Iwelumo, as the former Colchester man is still struggling with a knee problem. QPR also have plenty to report on the striker front and Gareth Ainsworth could hand Rowan Vine his first start for months after his return from a broken leg. Heidar Helguson is another man hoping for a start after he also recently recovered from injury.

With all of the upheaval at QPR, we think there could be something of a surprise here. The visitors certainly won’t roll over for Wolves and we think this could end in a 2-2 draw – which is basically enough to promote the table toppers.

Related posts:

1. Cardiff v Wolves Preview
2. Wolves v Burnley Preview
3. Wolves v Bristol City Preview
4. Wolves v Sheffield United Preview
5. Burnley v Wolves Preview

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