With wins against Barnsley and Huddersfield Town under their belts, the Hatters had real momentum heading into the international break.
QPR are three points better off than the Town, sitting in eighth after six games with ten points. Wins against Sheffield Wednesday and Wigan Athletic just before the fortnight break saw Mark Warburton’s side propel themselves up the league table.
International iFollow Hatters subscribers will be able to watch the game live, whilst subscribers in the UK can listen to Simon Pitts’ full match commentary.
GRAEME JONES SAID:
Please be aware - these quotes are taken from Graeme’s press conference on Thursday
On player availability: “Touch wood we are fine – everyone has come back from international duty, that’s always the concern, that they’re in a good place mentally and physically. Sometimes you can get the baggage of poor results from an international scene, you quickly remind them that they’re back at club Luton. James is not with the Republic of Ireland, Simon isn’t with Croatia, Luke isn’t with England Under-20s, they have got back into club Luton and that’s what today is about.
On injuries: “Martin Cranie is back on the training ground today, straight line running, so that’s a step forward, it’s great to see him back out there. Danny Hylton is making progress and young Jake Peck. That’s where we are with injuries, so we have got a lot of pros training at the minute.
“I would rather have to deal with 24 or 26 pros out there, then have it simple for training, because it is getting really, really competitive and it’s exactly what we want and we have got to manage that well. I really like where the boys are.
On QPR: “It’s a similar stadium [to Kenilworth Road]. I have a lot of experiences of going to QPR, I think Mark Warburton has done a really good job, I analysed their team and he’s done a really, really good job. They play different systems, he plays to the team’s strengths, so we will have a real challenge on Saturday, 100 per cent. But, we are ready for it.”
On signing QPR full-back Angel Rangel for Swansea: “He’s 36. Me, Kevin Reeves and Roberto Martinez were in Spain scouting and I think we had a four hour wait before our flight. I think it was Terrassa, I think we said ‘let’s go and watch Terrassa, we could get half a game in’. I think Terrassa played Benidorm, it was in Barcelona – it was in the old Hockey stadium that they used in the 1992 Olympics. We said ‘let’s go’. All of a sudden we see this right-back – he is absolute stand out. This was 2007, in Segunda B so the third tier. All three of us right away said ‘we really like this guy’. We did a deal with Terrassa and signed him for €10,000, back in the day! And I think he served Swansea for 10 years. He played at every level – League One, Championship and Premier League. An outstanding professional, an outstanding guy. I think he has married a Welsh girl and settled. His whole life changed on one decision to go and watch him play for 45 minutes. He is the one who has made the whole thing work. He’s a very, very good player.”
WHO?
A side that bounced between the Premier League and the Championship between 2010-15, QPR will be spending their fifth consecutive campaign in the second tier this season. Manager Mark Warburton took over at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium in the summer following the departure of Steve McClaren earlier on this year, with John Eustace taking the reins temporarily for the last month of the 2018/19 season.
WHEN AND WHERE?
Kick-off is at 3pm at The Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on Saturday 14th September.
MAN IN THE MIDDLE?
Jeremy Simpson will take charge of tomorrow’s game at QPR, having overseen two games this campaign, showing five yellow cards.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for this fixture are sold out.
PLAYED BEFORE?
One of our most played fixtures, the Hatters have taken on QPR 132 times, with the Town triumphant on 42 occasions, drawing 36 and losing 51. Our last meeting came in 2007, as QPR defeated us 3-2 at Loftus Road.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
The main blow-by-blow account of the action from The Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium will be provided via the Match Centre on the club website, which you can access by clicking here.
The main moments from the game will appear on the Hatters' social media feeds:
Twitter – @LutonTown
Facebook – www.facebook.com/LutonTown/
Instagram – www.instagram.com/ltfc_official/
And of course Simon Pitts will be on hand to provide commentary for iFollow Hatters which you can subscribe to by clicking here.
