Queens Park Rangers play host to Coventry City on Saturday afternoon looking to build on posting two successive draws in the Championship.
That has left the Hoops in 19th position in the standings at a time when Coventry had dropped down to 18th after struggling to get wins on the board in 2023-24.
Match preview
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With 13 defeats coming from his opening 22 matches in charge of QPR, Gareth Ainsworth will accept that he remains under a certain level of pressure.
However, there are signs that he is beginning to warm to the task at Loftus Road, with QPR only losing one of their most recent four fixtures in the Championship.
Their solitary loss during that run was a consequence of an early sending off against Sunderland, and the Hoops have since responded with draws against Swansea City and Birmingham City.
After scoring a last-gasp equaliser versus the Swans, QPR held Birmingham to a goalless draw last time out, making it just one goal conceded in the three matches during the current period where they have had 11 players.
Sitting three points above the relegation zone, Ainsworth will recognise the importance of getting more points on the board, yet a win on Saturday would buy him some breathing space in the dugout.
Opposite number Mark Robins is under no particular pressure in the Coventry hotseat despite his side delivering just one win from eight games.
Nevertheless, the Sky Blues are becoming increasingly desperate to avoid losing too much ground on the top six, the current gap standing at five points.
Their only second-tier defeats have been posted at Leicester City and Cardiff City, but the recent draws against Hull City and Huddersfield Town have been the consequence of conceding late goals.
Coventry have a relatively favourable schedule ahead of the international break with home matches versus Blackburn Rovers and Norwich City to come, and Robins knows that his team need to turn a corner ahead of another two-week break.
Team News
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QPR remain without midfielder Jack Colback who serves the final game of his three-match for his red card against Sunderland.
Barring any further injury issues, Ainsworth may opt to go with the starting lineup from the draw with Birmingham.
Albert Adomah and Chris Willock are both options, with Lyndon Dykes moving into a more advanced role ahead of Sinclair Armstrong a possibility.
With Coventry so close to seeing out a win over Huddersfield, Robins could decide to stick with the first XI from that fixture.
If alterations are made, Jake Bidwell and Haji Wright are most likely to come into the team at left wing-back and in attack respectively.
Milan van Ewijk, Ben Sheaf and Kasey Palmer are all sidelined for at the next six weeks.
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Begovic; Kakay, Cook, Fox; Smyth, Dozzell, Field, Paal; Dykes, Chair; Armstrong
Coventry City possible starting lineup:
Wilson; Thomas, McFadzean, Binks; Sakamoto, Eccles, Kelly, Dasilva; Ayari; Wright, Godden
We say: Queens Park Rangers 1-2 Coventry City
Everything points to this being somewhat of a nervy fixture with both sides struggling for momentum in 2023-24. While QPR may hope to impress on familiar territory, we are expecting Coventry to click into gear at some stage, and that could happen at Loftus Road.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Darren Plant
