QPR V Burnley - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game liveRedknapp bemoans 'gulf in class' QPR boss Harry Redknapp believes "a gulf in class" makes it almost impossible for this season's relegation battlers to compete with the top sides in the Barclays Premier League.Rangers secured a well-deserved 2-2 draw at home to Manchester City last month but have failed to earn another point against teams currently in the top half of the table.The three promoted sides all find themselves in the relegation zone ahead of this weekend's fixtures, with QPR sandwiched between Leicester, who are bottom, and Burnley."Leicester beat Man United in September and you thought they would finish in the top half, that's how it goes in this division, it is so hard to win games, there's a gulf in class," Redknapp said."Man City have beaten Sunderland 4-1 and Southampton 3-0 (in the last week) - they're on another level, they can go away with 10 men and win 3-0."That tells you the difference in quality between Man City, Chelsea, even Arsenal - they've got massive budgets and top players."It is hard for clubs like Leicester, Burnley and QPR."Eight players that played for us against Swansea on Tuesday played in the Championship last year and came up through the play-offs."Thirteen points separated sixth place from eighth at the end of last season but the likes of West Ham, Swansea and Southampton are all threatening to upset the established elite.Redknapp believes the bottom half will remain tight throughout the campaign but expects the usual suspects to fill the top spots come May."At the start of the year you can predict those challenging for the Champions League and I think it will still be four from the seven we expected to be there," Redknapp said."There's not much in it at the bottom, if you look at the teams - Burnley are very much the same team that came up last year and we're the same."Leicester were definitely the best team in the Championship last year and they're down with us as well."We're going okay, we need to pick up some points away but our home form has been excellent."It's going to be tight, it'll be a tight bottom third of the league this year."QPR are the only team in England's top four divisions who have failed to pick up a point away from home this season.Rangers have fared far better at Loftus Road, where they host fellow newcomers Burnley on Saturday, but Redknapp admits his side's away form must improve."It's been difficult, we've played good teams and we've found it hard - there's not too many teams down the bottom who have got results away from home," Redknapp said."The games we've played have all been against good clubs who have been up there in the top eight."Maybe we have to find a system that will get us a result somewhere but we've tried everything, every system in the book."You have to keep going, it'll turn, we'll pick up a result away from home when you probably least expect it."First and foremost though we have to concentrate on our home form this weekend and get a result against Burnley."Redknapp has no fresh injury concerns
Bobby Zamora has recovered from a back problem and could start after being left on the bench for the midweek defeat at Swansea but Adel Taarabt (groin), Sandro and Alejandro Faurlin (both knee) remain sidelined.QPR striker Charlie Austin and former Burnley team-mate Danny Ings face each other this weekend and Sean Dyche believes the two could one day be international colleagues due to changing perceptions in England.Austin and Ings, who have both played non-league football, are sampling the top flight for the first time in their careers with newly-promoted sides this season.Rangers forward Austin, 25, has scored seven times in 13 games and is the joint top English goalscorer in the Barclays Premier League along with West Brom's Saido Berahino, who recently received a call up to Roy Hodgson's senior set-up.Ings has also started to find his feet at the highest level, scoring three times for the Clarets in November and bagging a brace for the England Under-21s at Turf Moor last month, too.The pair's form has led to suggestions that recognition from Hodgson may be on the horizon and Burnley boss Dyche, who has managed both players during their time in east Lancashire, was quick to highlight other recent call-ups to highlight Austin and Ings' cases."There have been similar stories," he said."There was a time when you wouldn't have thought Kevin Davies would have got in there so late
(Rickie) Lambert has got in there late, so it is changing."The viewpoint on football is changing
It's about form and player availability can come into it as well."In the week that the Football Association unveiled the 'England DNA', a programme designed for creating better players for the national team, Dyche was critical of the academy system's "soft" attitude to developing youngsters.The ex-Chesterfield defender believes prospects are losing their raw edge when coming through the ranks and pointed to former bricklayer Austin and Ings, who was playing on loan for Dorchester four years ago, as examples of players whose drive has helped them reach the top.And with Hodgson having to contend with a dearth of attacking options in recent years, Dyche knows that goals in the Premier League will get you noticed by the England boss."You've got an enhanced chance if the numbers aren't so great," Dyche added."When I think back to when I was playing in the late 80s, 90s, the country could debate a massive amount of players over who was going to play (for England)."If you look at it now, it's more or less the top players who are playing in the Premier League, so the manager has a smaller group, which enhances the chance if your form is good to get in there."But it all depends on Roy Hodgson
That's his job and it depends on what he thinks."Ings' ascent to prominence only really occurred when Austin moved to Loftus Road at the start of last season after averaging a goal every other game at Turf Moor.In his absence, Burnley's surprise promotion was built on the 47-goal partnership of Wales international Sam Vokes and Championship player of the year Ings.But Dyche insists it was Vokes, currently sidelined by a knee injury, rather than Ings, that was available to step out of the shadows when Austin departed."It helped Vokesy's development," the Clarets manager argued."Danny was doing fine but it gave Vokesy more freedom to not be a bit part, to not be the man who was waiting in the wings
We said, 'You're the man, how are you going to stand up and deal with it?'"He went, 'Okay, thanks very much'."Burnley are expected to be without both Stephen Ward and Michael Duff as they bid to stretch their four-game unbeaten run at QPR.Republic of Ireland international Ward will see a specialist on Friday for an ankle injury he picked up in the midweek draw with Newcastle, while fellow defender Duff is still not quite ready to return from his calf strain.Vokes is edging closer to a first-team return after scoring a brace in a 70-minute outing for the development squad on Wednesday
Source : PA
Source: PA