Stoke look to put pressure back on the top six with trip to West-London

Stoke City have been perhaps one of the surprise packages of the Championship season, standing just two points off the top six after 18 matches.

With it being so congested in and amongst the top sides in the division, it is vital for the Potters to put some pressure on these in and around them as they busy festive schedule approaches.

On Tuesday evening, Michael O’Neill’s side travel to West-London to face an out of sorts QPR side who have lost four of their last five matches in the Championship, providing Stoke with a brilliant chance to pick up all three points.

The visitors are set to welcome back Danny Batth from injury following a short spell on the sidelines from an injury sustained in the match against Middleborough.

Defender Tommy Smith and midfielder John Obi-Mikel could both have a chance of making the squad, while the game continues to come too early for Sam Clucas who is yet to rejoin training.

James McClean also has a chance of coming back into the side after serving a one-match suspension.

They face a QPR side who have really struggled in recent weeks, winning just one of their last eight in the league and currently sit just five points clear of the drop zone and are in real need of a strong performance.

It was Rangers who came out on top in the two meetings last season, claiming a 4-2 victory in February, having previously come out on top on the opening day of the season thanks to a narrow 2-1 away win.

O’Neill has spoken to the media about tomorrow night’s opponents, highlighting how difficult it has been for them after losing some key players in the summer.

“They’re having a difficult run, they lost players in the summer who are difficult to replace.

“They’ve brought in Lyndon Dykes who’s had a decent start to the season.

“We expect a tough game again. If you look at the game on Saturday against Derby, in the bottom three but when you look at the players they have, sometimes a team’s position is a little bit false.

There has been very little in QPR’s games, they were narrowly beaten by Reading in the 89th minute at the weekend.”

Depending on other results, a win could be enough to lift the Potters to sixth but they would need to rely on Brentford and Bristol City both slipping up in their respective games.

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