BARNSLEY will look for a fifth straight win over Queens Park Rangers from 12.30pm tomorrow but face one of the form teams in the Championship.
The Reds have four points from three games after beating Coventry City 1-0 at home on Saturday then losing by the same scoreline to Luton Town on Tuesday at Oakwell.
The Hoops finished last season very strongly, collecting 46 points from the second half of the campaign which saw them rise from 19th to ninth.
They had an even better second half of the season than Barnsley who surged into the play-offs.
This season, QPR have drawn 1-1 at home to London neighbours Millwall on the opening day then won 3-0 at Hull City on Saturday before winning 3-2 at Middlesbrough on Wednesday despite having a man sent off at 1-1. They are joint top of the very early league table.
Head coach Markus Schopp said: “QPR had a big game on Wednesday, they were 1-0 down and one man down and came back in a tremendous way. There is a lot of energy and a lot of quality.
“It is important that we bring everything on the pitch and, if we do that, we will be difficult for any team.”
QPR have netted six goals this week. Schopp said: “Our defence will have to be at its best but I don’t worry about that. Our defence did a really good job, except in our last game where we had a couple of problems that we usually don’t have. We analysed it with them and they know what they have to do. I am sure they will do it in their best way.”
QPR played on Wednesday night so will have a day less to recover than Barnsley.
Schopp said: “We have had one more day to recover but I won’t make too much about it. QPR are at home.
“We don’t think a lot about it.”
Schopp hinted at a change in formation tomorrow. He has so far used the 3-4-3 employed by Valerien Ismael last season but has changed to a 4-3-3 mid-game.
Asked if he could use a different system, he said yesterday: “We definitely have that in our mind. I always said we wanted to be a bit more flexible. We are thinking about a couple of things and we haven’t made our matchplan yet.”
Barnsley have done the double over the Hoops in both of the last two seasons, having won just eight of the previous 44 meetings, losing 27. Loftus Road used to be one of Barnsley’s ultimate ‘bogey grounds’, as they drew three and lost 22 of their 25 visits from 1950 until 2020 including 11 successive defeats.
But they won both visits there in behind-closed-doors games during the coronavirus crisis, 1-0 in their first game after football returned in June last year and a 3-1 win in March this year.
QPR manager Warburton has a poor record against Barnsley, losing at Oakwell with Nottingham Forest in 2017 then four times with the Hoops.
Herbie Kane and Jordan Williams have both been out with minor injuries but could be in contention for tomorrow.
Mads Andersen is expected be out until next month with a knee problem.
Tomorrow’s game is live on Sky TV.
