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The Pre-Match Warm Up
Friday 3rd March 2006
by Ron Norris & Simon Skinner

After the fantastic win over Sheffield United, Rangers are back at Loftus Road take on barmy Glenn Hoddle's army. Can Rangers beat Wolves at home for the first time since 1984?

Queens Park Rangers v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Coca Cola Football League Championship
Saturday 4th March 2006
Kick Off 15:00

TEAM NEWS

Rangers are likely to see more changes upfront for Saturday's game. Marc Nygaard limped off against Sheffield United and could miss out. If he does then Gary Waddock will be choosing between Sammy Youssouf and Kevin Gallen as Paul Furlong's strike partner. Gareth Ainsworth and Mauro Milanese are both available again after suspension and should be in the starting eleven whilst Simon Royce is nearing fitness but Paul Jones will most likely continue in goal.

There's plenty of problems for Glenn Hoddle as well, Wolves skipper Paul Ince is likely to miss out with a back problem and Hod will also have to do without Jody Craddock (knee), Jackie McNamara (cruciate), George Ndah (knee) Mark Kennedy (hamstring) and Seol Ki-Hyeon (skin problem).

POSSIBLE TEAM
		Furlong	Gallen


	Cook	Bircham	Lomas	Ainsworth


	Milanese	Evatt	Shittu	Bignot



		Jones

A QUICK GUIDE TO OUR OPPONENTS

WOLVES IN BRIEF

Wolves arrive at Loftus Road on the back of three straight wins that has helped them solidify their play off push. Sitting nicely in seventh spot they look to be a good bet to break into the top six before the end of the season.

LAST FIVE GAMES
Date	Versus	Venue	F	A
25/02/06	Hull	Away	3	2
18/02/06	Ipswich	Home	1	0
14/02/06	Burnley	Away	1	0
11/02/06	Crewe	Home	1	1
04/02/06	Leicester	Away	0	1


TOP SCORERS
Name	FLC	FAC	LC	Total
Carl Cort	10	0	0	10
Kenny Miller	7	2	0	9
Colin Cameron	3	2	0	5

RUBBISH FACT

Wolves legend Billy Wright played 105 times for England including a run of 70 consecutive games.

RANGERS VERSUS .....

LAST TIME OUT

Wolves 3 - 1 Queens Park Rangers
Monday 30th August 2005

"Rangers were starting to see a little more of the ball but failing to do much with it. They were made to pay for their lack of a cutting edge when Carl Cort scored his second of the game. Kenny Miller ran into acres of space behind Ian Evatt and put in a cross that flew between keeper and defenders. Shittu pulled out of his clearance and this seemed to wrong foot Royce and he was helpless to stop Cort slotting home from four yards."

LEAGUE STANDINGS
Pos	Team	P	GD	Pts
7th	Wolves	35	+10	53
13th	QPR	35	-9	45


HEAD TO HEAD
Played	QPR	Wolves	Draws
36	11	13	12

OTHER MEETINGS

Rangers haven't beaten Wolves at Loftus Road in the last seven attempts and the last three games between the sides at HQ have ended in a draw. March isn't a great time for this fixture either, we've met each other four times in month and not won any of them.

GENERAL INFORMATION

THE REFEREE

Paul Armstrong officiates his fifth Rangers game on Saturday with the R's being unbeaten with him in charge to date. Of the four previous games we've drawn three (including two 2-2's against Colchester) with the win coming away to Cardiff in during the play off charge of 2003.

THE REF RECORD
Season	Games	Yellows	Reds
2005-06	28	60	3
2004-05	34	72	8
2003-04	30	89	6


OPPONENTS LINKS
Official Website	Wolves.co.uk
Fans Websites	The Wolves Site
	Wolves Central

QPR CONNECTIONS

We signed Simon Osborn from Reading in 1995 for £1.1 million. He was supposed to take the pressure of player/manager Ray Wilkins so Butch could concentrate more on running the team rather than being in it. However after five months at the club and just eight starts he was sold to Wolves for a million pounds. He spent six seasons at Molineux and is still playing today, with League One side Walsall.

RON AND SIMON'S PREDICT-OFF

RON: After the stunning win against Sheffield United confidence should be sky high at Loftus Road but Wolves prove another difficult obstacle for us on Saturday afternoon. They're on a good run but shorn of some important players and now might be the time to take advantage of them. It'll be a blow if Marc Nygaard isn't fit to play as teams simply can't handle the big man but his loss could be Kevin Gallen's gain and it'll be interesting to see how the skipper fits into Waddo's new look side. I didn't think we'd beat Sheffield United but we did, I don't think I think we'll beat Wolves but what the hell, 2-1 to Rangers!

SIMON: Following on from the excellent win against Sheffield United the lads should be well up for this one against the ever judgemental Glenn Hoddle's side. Wolves have been in good form themselves despite their tag as one of the divisions draw specialists. This game will certainly be a test of our new found passing style and although I don't expect us to win the game I also don't expect us to lose it. As you have probably worked out by now I will be plumping for the draw. 1-1

Current score: Ron 22 Simon 24