Opening Day Rematch: Burnley Visit QPR with Both sides in the Midst of Terrible Runs

-
On opening day back in August, Garry Waddock's QPR traveled to Burnley - and lost 0-2 with both goals from Steve Jones: the player Ian tried to sign last season. Today, it's the rematch with QPR with 10 losses from their last 12 games playing a Burnley side also with a terrible run. QPR's Team on opening Day: P Jones, Bignot, Stewart, Rose, Milanese, Ainsworth, Rowlands, Lomas, Ward, Cook, Czerkas.
Subs: Cole, Kanyuka, Donnelly, Bircham, R Jones.

Burnley have 38 points from 29 games (QPR have 30 points from 30 games). Burnley's Away record is 4 wins; 5 draws and 6 losses. Scored 12. Conceded 24. QPR's home record is 5 wins, 3 daws, 7 losses. Scored 19, let in 21.)

Burnley's Results this season - Result

Burnley Official Site - Boss Ready For Battle
Burnley boss Steve Cotterill is hoping his side can build on Tuesday's encouraging performance against Derby and get back on track against QPR this weekend.
The Clarets' recent run of form has been well documented, but Cotterill admits he still has full faith in his players and insists they will carry on battling until results turn.
"It's been a tough month and I'm pleased with the transfer business we've done. Until we get people fit though, there is going to be a sufferance period," said Cotterill.
"We had an awful January with postponements and we just need a goal and a win. I think the players will change again then. A win would be very good for everybody.
"We feel that even though we have been on a bad run, not all those performances have warranted the results we've got. We'll just carry on working until we get those results.

"The lads have done alright. They haven't been a minute's bother. They have been training hard and hopefully working towards a good finish to the season.
"We've been on a bad run and that's taken us into the bottom half of the table, where we don't like being.
"There have been a few circumstances for that really but we haven't quibbled. Only in the last couple of weeks, have we mentioned that we missed Andy Gray.
"We've tried to keep that one away. The bottom line is though we have missed Andy. He's not going to be the great saviour when he comes back, because he's got to get fit himself."
It's certainly been a difficult season at Loftus Road, with QPR dropping into the bottom three this week, following a 2-0 defeat to Barnsley. Cotterill though, has warned against underestimating the R's league position and knows his side are in for a difficult challenge.
"It's been a while since we played against QPR. It was our first game of the season here. There has been a big turnaround down there in terms of personnel," explained Cotterill.
"It's a good game for us. We know it will be tough.
"They are down there and scrapping at the moment. We've got to make sure we fight as hard as they fight. If we play anything like we did the other night, certainly in the last hour of the game, then I'm looking forward to watching us play again."
Eric Djemba-Djemba is suspended for Saturday's match after being sent off against Derby. Steve Jones (calf) and Wayne Thomas (foot) are both doubtful. Steve Caldwell could make his debut after completing his transfer from Sunderland.
Defender Danny Cullip is in line to make his QPR debut after joining from Nottingham Forest. Ray Jones is expected to start up-front in place of Paul Furlong, but midfielder Marc Bircham is a definite absentee with a long-term injury. Burnley

QPR OFFICIAL SITE CLARETS
If any club mirrors the topsy turvy nature of the Coca Cola Championship, it's Steve Cotterill's Clarets.
After a stunning start to the campaign, Burnley are in grave danger of letting all their hard work go to waste.
Riding high in the top-six inside the opening three months of the campaign, the Clarets have plummeted at an alarming rate since their defeat to the then table-toppers Cardiff City at start of November.
Indeed, since the 1-0 loss at Ninian Park on November 11th, Cotterill's men have registered just a single league victory - it's a fact that hasn't gone unnoticed by the gaffer.
"We are probably lacking some self-belief,'' he said recently.
"Confidence in players can drain away and that seems to be happening.
"We are giving enough effort, we just need something to drop. Not much is falling for us at the moment.''
However, Ade Akinbiyi's return, coupled with the arrival of former Premiership pair Eric Djemba-Djemba (who is suspended for the trip to W12) and Joey Gudjonsson, at least provides geuine hope that the Clarets can halt their alarming slump.
Akinbiyi is something of a cult hero at Turf Moor and if he can go just some way to replicating the form he produced during his first spell at the Club, then Burnley will soon be heading back in the right direction.
Djemba-Djemba - despite a failed spell at Aston Villa - is an established Cameroon international, while Icelandic midfielder Gudjonsson comes with a healthy reputation from Dutch giants AZ Alkmaar.
The Clarets ran out worthy 2-0 winners when the two sides met on the opening day of the new campaign, but with their fortunes floundering in recent weeks, R's gaffer John Gregory will see this as a perfect opportunity to register a crucial three point return.
Gray
Last league game: Derby County 1, Burnley 0. Coca Cola Championship.
January 30th 2007.
Burnley: Pollitt, Thomas (Foster 45), McGreal, Duff, Harley (McCann 88), Elliott (Mahon 70), James O'Connor, Gudjonsson, Djemba-Djemba, Akinbiyi, Lafferty.
Subs Not Used: Coyne, Garreth O'Connor.
Burnley boss Steve Cotterill: "The game was competitive but fair and the decision to send Djemba-Djemba off was ridiculous.
"And, to make matters worse, I get sent off for asking Mo Camara why he pushed Kyle Lafferty. They'll say somewhere along the line I used some language - no chance.
"Do we take the passion out of the game - because if we do the fans'll stop coming? Did Djemba-Djemba deserve to be sent off? No. Did Billy Davies? No."
Superhoopsbet.co.uk match odds:
QPR 13/10 Burnley 9/5 Draw 9/4
Clarets front-man Ade Akinbiyi
Key player: Ade AKINBIYI
Burnley started 2007 with a bang by capturing Clarets old-boy Ade Akinbiyi.
The Sheffield United striker rejoined the Clarets, less than 12 months after leaving Turf Moor for Bramall Lane in a club record £1.75m outgoing transfer deal.
Akinbiyi - who will cost Burnley £650,000 with a further £100,000 payable in the summer - put pen to paper on the first day of the New Year.
An experienced and proven goalscorer in the Football League, Akinbiyi penned a two and a half-year deal with the club.
Head to head:
QPR wins: 8
Burnley wins: 12
Draws: 3
Last meeting:
Burnley 2 (Jones 2), Queens Park Rangers 0.
Coca Cola Championship.
August 5th 2006.
Latest News:
Burnley clinch deal for Caldwell
Burnley have signed Scotland defender Steven Caldwell from Sunderland in a £400,000 deal.
Caldwell, 26, agreed a three-and-a-half year contract, with only nine minutes remaining of the January transfer window on Wednesday.
The Black Cats will initially receive £200,000 and the rest of the fee will be paid at a later date.
He would have been a free agent in the summer and had been at Sunderland since arriving from Leeds in June 2004.
(source: www.bbc.co.uk/sport)QPR