Nottingham Forest v QPR preview
Friday 3 November 2017 17:00, UK
Nottingham Forest boss Mark Warburton will hope to welcome back striker Daryl Murphy and defender Armand Traore for the visit of QPR.
Warburton had expected the pair to have shaken off hamstring injuries in time to travel to Reading in midweek but neither was named in the squad for the 3-1 defeat at the Madejski Stadium. Defender Danny Fox faces a spell on the sidelines with an unspecified issue.
Forest were off-colour against the Royals and were 3-0 down before a late consolation from Ben Osborn, so Warburton may opt to freshen up his side, with Zach Clough, Jamie Ward, Tyler Walker and Ben Brereton pushing for recalls.
QPR can welcome back defender Joel Lynch after suspension. The centre-half missed Tuesday night's 1-0 win over high-flying Sheffield United after collecting a fifth booking this season.
Boss Ian Holloway has no new injury worries after back-to-back wins, having also seen his side beat Wolves last weekend. But Nedum Onuoha (hamstring), James Perch and Grant Hall (both knee) are set to miss out again.
Opta stats
Nottingham Forest have never lost a home match against QPR in any competition, a run of 33 matches stretching back to their first meeting in January 1934 (W19 D14).
Should QPR fail to win, they will set a new Football League record for most away matches played at a single club without winning - they have currently played 28 games, a joint-record with Grimsby Town who failed to win in 28 games at Blackburn Rovers.
Kieran Dowell has been involved in five goals in his last four Championship starts (four goals, one assist).
Against Hull, Dowell - aged 20 years and 18 days - became the youngest away Championship hat-trick scorer since Jonjo Shelvey scored a treble at Elland Road against Leeds in November 2011 aged 19 years and 248 days.
Ian Holloway hasn't lost any of his last six managerial visits to the City Ground (W4 D2).
The Hoops have picked up five points in their last 14 away Championship matches (W0 D5 L9).
Prutton's prediction
What a week for QPR. Ian Holloway's side were on a dismal run of form heading into last weekend but have gone on to take two big scalps at Loftus Road.
Whether they can take those kinds of performances on the road remains to be seen, and the fact they're yet to win away this season suggests they might not. But I still reckon this will be a draw.
Prutton predicts: 1-1 (11/2 with Sky Bet)
