Queens Park Rangers

Julien Stephan believes the large pitch at Ewood Park will provide a challenge for his QPR side against Blackburn on Saturday.

Rangers have won at Portsmouth's Fratton Park and drawn at Loftus Road at home to Bolton in the Championship this season.

Both those pitches are significantly smaller than Blackburn's, and R's head coach Stephan told BBC Radio London: "We will play away on a big pitch, so it will be probably different compared to the last two games that we played.

"The pitch is huge, the pitch is bigger, so bigger space - bigger space to defend, but bigger space as well to attack.

"It (Blackburn) is a good team with some good players, and they are in a good position after the two first games.

"We will really enjoy, as a team and as a competitor, to play against them."

Stephan is also planning for a packed fixture schedule, with Rangers due to play six matches in the space of three weeks.

He said: "We are still in the same challenge for us, to manage some players, and some of them are not able to play three games in a row. It's very clear.

"So we will have to manage a lot. We will have to face a lot of challenges, not only the opponent, but the challenge of the playing time in the next two weeks."

These two sides have matched each other so far with a win and a draw from their opening two Championship matches.

It is five years since QPR went three games unbeaten at the start of a league season.

• None of the past 17 league meetings between Queens Park Rangers (6 wins) and Blackburn Rovers (11 wins) have ended level, since a 1-1 draw in September 2016.

• Queens Park Rangers have won away to Blackburn Rovers in two of the past three Championship campaigns (L1), having won on just two of their prior 18 trips to Ewood Park in the league (D3 L13).

• After beating Middlesbrough 2-1 last time out, Blackburn are looking to record back-to-back Championship victories for just the second time since the start of December last year (beating QPR and Preston in February).

• QPR beat Portsmouth on the opening day of the season before drawing with Bolton in their second match, now they are hoping to remain unbeaten across their opening three matchdays of a league campaign for just the second time in the past decade after 2021-22.

• Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray has faced QPR 17 times in the league previously – his first meeting with them in October 2006 ended in a draw (3-3 with West Brom) but none of the 16 since have ended level (W11 L5).

Image source, Getty Images

Queens Park Rangers fans were disappointed to see their opening win over Portsmouth backed up with a goalless draw on home soil against Bolton Wanderers at the weekend, but they still have something to be optimistic about.

Striker Richard Kone scored 10 goals across his 43 Championship appearances last season and fan Alex Bullamore of the R Generation podcast, external feels the Ivory Coast international is still just settling in.

"The rise that he has had is very quick, absolutely incredible, so there is still a bit of adjustment," Bullamore told BBC Radio London.

"There were rumours circling about him at the beginning of the window, he's been attracting attention. Him and Rumarn Burrell, I really liked what I saw last season.

"For the first time in a couple of years, QPR have finally got two good strikers for this level rather than strikers that are subpar."

Listen to the full fan analysis below or on BBC Sounds here.

Explore more Queens Park Rangers content on BBC Sounds

Image source, Shutterstock

Bristol Rovers have signed teenage winger Philip Sanyaolu on loan from Queens Park Rangers for the rest of the 2026-27 season.

The 18-year-old has been part of the Championship club's age-grade system since the age of eight and has yet to make a first-team appearance.

Rovers manager Steve Evans said that Sanyaolu, who is their 12th signing this summer, will be in the squad for Tuesday's EFL Trophy game against Chelsea U21.

"Phillip is a young man full of pace, technique, and energy and is ready for the next stage of his development," Evans told the club website., external

Keeping midfielder Ilias Chair fit for most of the season could be key to QPR's prospects, says head coach Julien Stephan.

The 28-year-old scored twice in their opening 3-1 Championship win at Portsmouth last weekend but injury limited him to only 15 appearances last season.

"Ilias is a creative player, able to deliver some key passes as well as finish," Stephan told BBC Radio London.

"He scored twice on Saturday - one after a great collective move and one from a top delivery by Amadou Mbengue, so it's really improtant for him and his confidence."

QPR finished 15th last season with Chair missing four months of the campaign with a back injury but Stephan hopes he can have a big influence on this season.

"We lacked him for a lot of last season and we hope he will be with us for most of this season," he added.

"He knows the Championship and is a veratile player but it's not only him, it's a collective job."

QPR meet Bolton Wanderers at Loftus Road on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Listen to more QPR interviews and content on BBC Sounds.

BBC Radio London's Andy Rowley and Phil Parry have been looking back on QPR's 3-1 win at Portsmouth.

It was a perfect start to the Championship season for Rangers, who are at home to Bolton on Saturday. Could Julien Stephan's side be dark horses for promotion?

These two sides both came away with victories on the opening day of the season with QPR winning 3-1 at Portsmouth and newly-promoted Bolton beating Preston 2-1.

It is seven years since they last met in the EFL.

• QPR have won five of their past eight league meetings with Bolton Wanderers, losing only once (D2) – that defeat did, however, come the last time the two teams met in March 2019.

• Only one of Bolton Wanderers' 17 away games against QPR in the Football League has ended in a draw (W6 L10) – they are hoping to win back-to-back league matches away to the R's for the first time.

• QPR will be hoping to win each of their opening two league games of a season for the first time since 2016-17.

• After winning on the opening day, Bolton will be hoping to win each of their opening two matches of a second-tier campaign for the first time since 1977-78 – a season which ended in promotion to the top flight.

• Bolton Wanderers' manager Steven Schumacher has faced QPR twice before, both times in the 2023-24 Championship season but with two different clubs; he drew 0-0 away with Plymouth in December 2023 before winning 1-0 at home with Stoke City in February 2024.

QPR, Millwall and Norwich are set to miss out to Nottingham Forest in the race for 19-year-old Spanish-born AFC Wimbledon winger Junior Nkeng, who could move for a fee close to £1m. (Graeme Bailey, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Wednesday's gossip column here.

QPR and Blackburn Rovers have reportedly joined the race to sign Liverpool defender Luke Chambers. Portsmouth are another Championship sides interested in taking the 22-year-old on loan. (The Athletic - subscription required), external

Find more of Tuesday's EFL gossip here.

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QPR full-back Kealey Adamson says the team feels ready to compete this season after securing an impressive opening day win at Portsmouth.

The Hoops won 3-1 at Fratton Park at the beginning of their second campaign under manager Julien Stephan.

The Frenchman led them to 15th in the Championship in 2025-2026, matching their position in 2024-2025 under previous boss Marti Cifuentes.

Adamson told BBC Radio London: "Our kit man was saying we haven't had a win in the first league game of the season for a long time, so that was really important.

"I think it shows this group is a little bit different, and a bit more connected, and we've got the quality to give it a good red hot crack this season."

"We've done double training days galore this summer, and now we've reached August I think we'll be firing on all cylinders".

QPR won five of their six pre-season friendlies, scoring 17 goals, and held last season's play-off semi-finalists Millwall 1-1 in their EFL Cup first round match before losing on penalties.

Anderson came on after 20 minutes against Portsmouth to replace the injured Boy Kemper, and says all three goals were the result of great teamwork.

"Transition was our biggest strength last year, and we really tried to lean into that. It felt like the boys were seeing similar pictures, and they were executing and able to finish with goals.

"We had a few moments where we could have threatened more and gone on to get a fourth, so that's something to work on."

QPR welcome promoted Bolton Wanderers to Loftus Road on Saturday, 22 August.

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your thoughts after QPR's 3-1 win against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Saturday.

Here are some of your comments:

Portsmouth fans

Cynthia: It is the same defensive frailties that Pompey have shown for the last couple of seasons. They need to invest in better quality players in defence rather than spend on midfield and attack. Build a team on a strong defence that spreads confidence to the rest of the team.

Michael: I'm not panicking. Shaughnessy and Abu both missed gilt-edged chances and plenty of dangerous crosses weren't attacked. Players will get used to each other and system but obviously work to do.

Grahame: A disappointing performance and result, reminiscent of last Saturday and much of last season. The new signings cannot disguise the problem from last season: a lack of goals from the central striker and a persistent susceptibility to counter attack.

Dean: Pompey were poor. Fell apart again this week as soon as a goal conceded. Alright, last week was a cup game but six goals in two games? Going to be a long hard season.

Gavin: After a great start, we seem to lose momentum and were undone by some shocking defending. It looks like we could be in for a difficult season!

QPR fans

Serb: First game of the season away from home and we start as we mean to go on. A real togetherness throughout the team which brought its just rewards. And just as important, a fully fit team, although I don't expect that to last long.

Steve: Great team performance, let's hope it's a springboard to an enjoyable season.

Chris: I thought it was a good performance but QPR should have added more goals in the second half. Vale, Chair and Lloyd missed good chances to do so. A special mention to Adamson who came on to play in an unfamiliar left back role and barely put a foot wrong. I was less impressed with starting with Vale and Edwards as makeshift central midfielders with Varane, Kamara and Alemayehu on the bench. Better sides would have capitalised on that pairing.

Colin: A lot of pundits have QPR down for relegation. They may just surprise a lot of them, with some astute signings and a manager in his second term could give them much needed consistency and confidence.

Geoff: Great start to the season. We should make the play-offs.

QPR manager Julien Stephan spoke to BBC Radio London after his side's opening win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park.

For a written selection of Stephan's quotes click here.

Image source, Opta

Portsmouth begin their Championship season with the visit of QPR to Fratton Park on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Pompey went down 3-1 at West Ham in the EFL Cup first round last weekend but are unbeaten in their past six league curtain-raisers, winning 1-0 at Oxford United last season.

The Hoops went out of the EFL Cup on penalties against Millwall and are without an opening day win since 2020, drawing 1-1 with Preston last year.

• Portsmouth have won just two of their past 11 league games against Queens Park Rangers (D6 L3), doing the double over them in the 2024-25 Championship campaign.

• Queens Park Rangers have won just one of their past seven away league games against Portsmouth (D3 L3); a 3-1 win in May 2000 under Gerry Francis.

• Portsmouth finished last season losing just one of their final eight league games (W4 D3); only Southampton (17) earned more points in Championship since the beginning of April than Pompey (15).

• QPR lost their final four league games last season; they haven't lost five in a row since October 2023 (a run of six).

• Portsmouth's Adrian Segecic finished last season either scoring (5) or assisting (3) in each of his final six appearances, while overall only three players overperformed their xG by a greater margin in the Championship last season (6.2 – 11 goals, 4.8 xG).

Image source, Shutterstock

QPR defender Tylon Smith has joined MLS side New England Revolution on a season-long loan deal.

The agreement includes an option to buy the 21-year-old, who has made four first-team appearances for the R's.

Smith, who joined Rangers last summer from Stellenbosch FC, was part of South Africa's squad at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

QPR open their Championship season away to Portsmouth on Saturday - and head coach Julien Stephan says it is important not to expect a repeat of the thrashing they handed the visitors back in March.

Stephan's side were 3-0 up inside the first half hour and ended up winning 6-1 at Loftus Road.

But, speaking to BBC Radio London, Stephan said: "I don't think the previous result will have a great importance on Saturday.

"They [Portsmouth] will probably want to have revenge. I can understand that. In reality, when you restart the season, it's just a reset.

"You have to forget what happened the season before because all the teams restart with zero points.

"That's why it's very exciting to restart the new season each time because you have a lot of hope for good things.

"We respect Portsmouth a lot, but the main thing is to stay focused on QPR, how we want to play, how we want to manage this game [and] how we want to win the balance of power."

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