After a dominant display on Saturday against Manchester United, QPR now travel to Cambridge United in the second pre-season fixture of the season.
What a day Saturday was for QPR fans. Firstly the return of Stefan Johansen on a permanent deal. In April I wrote that it would take a “minor miracle” for Johansen to come back to us, well miracle achieved. To steal one of the best championship players from the last 5 years from a local rival for absolute pennies is ridiculously un-QPR like. Confidence was already at an all time high having made early moves in the transfer window, now the deal that perhaps could’ve gotten away from us is done.
Then follow this up with a thrashing of the team that finished second in the Premier League, and you’ve got a fan base already planning the route for an open top bus parade. Manchester United fans have attempted to make excuses, from the age of their team to the fact that it was their second team. However they simply have no excuse. In the words of Mark Goldbridge “they’ve absolutely battered us”.
So where does this leave us coming into the Cambridge game? I imagine firstly it leaves plenty of QPR fans rushing to create a recast account, and then subsequently quite a few fans wondering what on earth recast is? Normally I would expect for a typical QPR surrender tonight to keep us fans in line. A bit of a reality check for having the absolutely criminal thought that we might actually do well in the coming season. I hope this doesn’t happen tonight, otherwise that’s 500 recast credits down the drain.
In all seriousness I don’t think we’ll get a surrender tonight, it may not be as enjoyable as Saturday but tonight I expect another win. Changes will probably be made with our most difficult game against Leicester coming on Saturday. I would expect Dykes to start along with Thomas, McCallum, Dunne, Adomah and possibly even Johansen. I also hope to see more of Bettache who really impressed off the bench against United.
Last season Cambridge were promoted from League Two in second place and this season will be their first in the third tier of English football since the 2001-2002 season. Having lost Paul Mullin to Wrexham, their main threat will come in the form of former Norwich midfielder Wes Hoolahan who scored 7 and created 9 in the league. Having lost to Brentford B Cambridge will be looking to bounce back with a stronger showing.
Also in a nice touch the game will also serve as a testimonial for Harrison Dunk, who is a Cambridge United legend and boyhood QPR fan. A one club man, Dunk has made 375 appearances for Cambridge. The club have confirmed that all proceeds from the game will go to Dunk directly. So massive congratulations to Dunk on a fantastic career with Cambridge.
Written by Alex Bullamore