Luton Town vs QPR - Match Preview

Team News

Vine: Possible doubt for tomorrow.

Luton - Luton again have problems with injuries, although a lot of the problems are being solved. Unfortunately, there is a fresh injury doubt over striker Rowan Vine. Vine hasn't trained all week after picking up a knock in the defeat at Preston. This may leave Newell with very little options up front, or at least very little goalscoring options. It may mean that Warren Feeney will partner Adam Boyd up front. injury. Parkin is likely to be out with a hamstring problem still, so we could be very short of strikers tomorrow, particularly those that can score. After an appeal midweek failed, Marlon Beresford will miss out at the weekend because of the red card he picked up against Preston. Therefore Dean Brill will start his first match of the season, with youngster Zac Barrett on the bench after being recalled from a loan spell at Kettering. Lewis Emanuel is likely to start as left-back after recovering from a hamstring injury that has kept him out of the side in recent weeks. This means that Peter Holmes will have to relinquish his place, despite performing well for a central midfielder out of position. Holmes may be competing for a midfield place, with Langley still not impressing alongside Steve Robinson. Chris Coyne and Paul Underwood are still out, and Sol Davis is of course a long term absentee.
Predicted Team - Brill (GK), Emanuel (DL), Foley (DR), Barnett (DC), Heikkinen (DC), Morgan (ML), Edwards (MR), Robinson (capt) (MC), Bell (MC), Vine (SC), Parkin (SC)

QPR - Ex West Ham player Steve Lomas is also suspended for the match at Kenilworth Road tomorrow. Therefore it is likely that Marc Bircham will play n midfield instead of Lomas, although Martin Rowlands is a possibility after shaking off an injury. Defender Pat Kanyuka is also out, although young striker Ray Jones may return after a hip injury. QPR visit Kenilworth Road off the back of some very good results. They haven't lost in three matches, including a draw at West Brom. They are also in very good goalscoring form, so they may score a few against our defence. However, if there's any hope for Luton then it will come with QPR's away record. They have only won once away from home, with a 2-1 victory at Southampton, and we have only lost once at home, albeit in the last match. As for the history in the fixture, QPR have only won 7 times out of 46 attempts at Kenilworth Road, and Luton have scored twice as many goals at home than QPR have at Kenilworth Road. QPR have a superior record in overall clashes though, with 35 wins to Luton's 30. The fixture last season saw Luton beat QPR 2-0, but that is the only time we have beaten them since the late 80's, with most clashes being draws including a memorable 3-3 draw in 2001 in the FA Cup. Goalscorers for Luton in the last match were Marcus Heikkinen and Steve Howard. Tomorrow sees the return of ex-Luton loanee Simon Royce.
Prediction
If Rowan Vine is out tomorrow, Luton will probably struggle to get a result. We should break our goal drought, as QPR let in a lot, but they also score a lot, so I think the rebuilding process will start here. Either a 2-2 draw or a 3-2 Luton win, with one of our strikers actually scoring.

Royce: Featured briefly for Luton in the title winning season