Queens Park Rangers travel to St Mary's to face Southampton in the Championship this Saturday, a fixture that arrives after a week of starkly contrasting results.
Richard Kone was the hero against Swansea, scoring a first-half hat-trick inside 15 minutes. The striker opened the scoring in the second minute from a Paul Smyth assist, added a second seven minutes later from a Kwame Poku assist, and completed his treble from the penalty spot. Jimmy Dunne added two more goals, one before half-time from a Harvey Vale assist and another late on from a Richard Kone assist, to seal the emphatic victory. That result ended a winless run of five matches, which included three consecutive losses. Their recent form over the last five games stands at zero wins, two draws and three defeats.
Their recent away form, however, tells a different story. The loss at St Andrew's saw Birmingham's Liam Millar score twice before Demarai Gray added a third in stoppage time. QPR's last five results, in order, read loss, loss, loss, draw, draw, a sequence they will be desperate to improve upon on the road. Those results were the 5-0 win over Swansea, the 3-0 loss to Birmingham, a 4-1 victory over Derby on Wednesday 14 October, a 1-1 draw at West Ham on Friday 9 October, and a 2-2 home draw with Preston on Saturday 19 September.
The squad for the Southampton trip is expected to be similar to the one that started against Swansea, with Charles in goal behind a back four of Adamson, Jimmy Dunne, Edwards and Kemper. The midfield trio of Varane, Kwame Poku and Kamara will look to control the game, supporting Kone up front with Harvey Vale and Paul Smyth providing width.
Southampton, managed by Russell Martin, come into the match in strong form with three wins and a draw from their last four outings. They beat West Ham 3-2 last time out. Their likely lineup includes Daniel Peretz in goal, with a defence marshalled by Stephens and a midfield featuring Ward-Prowse.
This match is the 13th round of the Championship season. The team heads to the south coast for a 3pm kick-off on Saturday, 31 October for their next fixture away to Southampton.
