Queens Park Rangers

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QPR boss Julien Stephan said the manner and style of his side's 2-1 victory over Watford was more pleasing than the 6-1 thrashing of Portsmouth in their last home game.

"If I have to compare the two games, I prefer this one to the Portsmouth game, even if the score is only 2-1," the Frenchman said after the win at Loftus Road.

"How we played today, defensively and offensively, no comparison for me. I prefer this game.

"We deserved to win the Portsmouth game, but probably not 6-1.

"If we continue to play like today, we will have a bigger chance of getting more points."

QPR head coach Julien Stephen has said his team deserve to end their Championship season on a high.

The Rs are 12th in the Championship table, 10 points short of the play-offs with seven games remaining but the Frenchman is determined they do not coast to the end of the campaign.

"It's always better to go on holiday after a good end to the season," Stephan told BBC Radio London.

"With all the effort the players have given this season they deserve to finish well."

QPR have won their past two league games, including a 6-1 hammering of Portsmouth a fortnight ago at Loftus Road and host Watford on Friday (15:00 BST).

"If you want to win the games you need to play great football with great commitment and great physical commitment," Stephan added.

"Because sometimes the most difficult thing at the end of the season is to find the same physical commitment with fatigue and you need to find a way to play an intense game with quality with the ball."

Listen to more QPR interviews and content on BBC Sounds.

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Championship clubs spent just over £69.5m on agents fees over the past 12 months according to figures released by the Football Association,, external an increase of £6m on the previous year.

The figures cover the period from February 2025 with Ipswich Town the top spenders, paying £11.7m having spent the first three months of the accounting period in the Premier League.

Southampton (£8.3m) and Leicester (£5.8m), who were relegated alongside Ipswich are the second and third-highest payers on the list.

Troubled Sheffield Wednesday were the most frugal when dealing with agents, spending £534,559.

Wrexham come in sixth on the list with an outlay of £3.6m while current Championship leaders Coventry spent just short of £1.5m.

Championship agents' fee spending, external

• Ipswich - £11,738,920

• Southampton - £8,381,358

• Leicester City - £5,866,587

• Sheffield United - £5,005,498

• Norwich - £4,020,206

• Wrexham - £3,660,584

• Swansea - £3,088,645

• Middlesbrough - £2,900,314

• Bristol City - £2,774,990

• Hull City - £2,450,431

• Stoke City - £2,088,886

• Birmingham City - £1,996,502

• Millwall - £1,982,348

• Preston North End - £1,831,233

• QPR - £1,829,036

• Watford - £1,612,833

• Coventry - £1,497,990

• Derby - £1,409,507

• West Brom - £1,346,030

• Oxford - £1,235,536

• Charlton - £904,698

• Portsmouth - £831,818

• Blackburn - £676,980

• Sheffield Wednesday - £534,559

Queen's Park Rangers head coach Julien Stephan believes his side's 6-1 thrashing over Portsmouth on Saturday was not their "best offensive collective performance."

Two goals each from Paul Smyth, Rayan Kolli and Richard Kone contributed to a clinical attacking display from Rangers who have now hit 50 points in the Championship and sit 17th in the table.

The Hoops had only registered nine shots across the match compared to Portsmouth's 20.

"It was not our best offensive collective performance," said Stephan to BBC Radio London after the game.

"I think we have had some better games collectively since the start of the season, but it was really, really clinical today.

"The first three shots, in fact, were three goals, which completely changed the momentum of the game and the balance of power, giving a lot of confidence, even if they managed to score once before half-time.

"But we restarted very well in the second half with the willingness to continue to attack and to score more goals."

Portsmouth will seek an end to a five-match winless streak to keep them outside of the bottom three when they visit Queens Park Rangers on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Pompey have lost four of their past five matches, drawing one, to be left just one point above the relegation line.

But hosts Rangers put an end to a four-match losing streak of their own on Saturday with a comeback win over Leicester City and will be hoping to see out their season in a better position.

• QPR are winless against Portsmouth since their opponents returned to the Championship (D1 L2), with their last league win over them coming in February 2011 under Neil Warnock (2-0).

• Portsmouth won 2-1 in this exact fixture last season (October 2024), ending a run of 12 league trips to face QPR without a victory (D4 L8). They last did so in back-to-back league campaigns in 1922-23 and 1923-24.

• QPR have lost their last three Championship home matches; the last time they lost four consecutive home league games under the same manager was in February-April 2015 under Chris Ramsey (5), when they were in the Premier League.

• Portsmouth are winless in their last five league matches, suffering more defeats in these last five (D1 L4) than in their previous 13 combined (W6 D4 L3).

• Harvey Vale scored and assisted in QPR's 3-1 win at Leicester last time out, registering more goal involvements in that game (2) than in his previous 18 Championship outings (1 goal).

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There have been plenty of contentious decisions in the 2025-26 Championship season so far.

Offside goals given, perfectly good goals ruled out, red card offences missed, penalties not given, dubious spot-kicks awarded. You name it.

With the video assistant referee (VAR) only used for the play-off final, the outcome of every second-tier game in the regular season can hinge on how on-field officials see incidents in real time.

• Would you want VAR introduced for every league game in the Championship?

• If so, why?

• And if not, let us know your reasons.

You can share your thoughts on VAR here or comment below, and we will publish a follow-up article soon with a selection of your responses.

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QPR head coach Julien Stephan spoke to BBC Radio London following their 3-1 win at Leicester City.

"We deserved this win because we showed great character, great personality, and very good collective connection," he said.

"Even though we conceded the first goal we stayed very focused on what we needed to do on the pitch. It was very important for me mentally that we stayed focused.

"We needed to manage cleverly at the end of the game and we did that very well."

Leicester City will be aiming to avoid a drop back in the relegation zone when they host Queen's Park Rangers on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The side could be back in the bottom three if Oxford win in the lunchtime kick-off but boss Gary Rowett will be keen to back up his first win in charge with another to ensure the side remain safe.

Meanwhile, a four league match losing streak has got QPR dangerously close to joining the relegation scrap, with the side just nine points clear of the bottom three.

• Leicester have lost four of their last eight home league games against QPR (W3 D1), including the Hoops' most recent trip to the King Power in March 2024.

• QPR are looking for a league double over Leicester for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign when they won the Championship title under Neil Warnock.

• Leicester have lost their last five home league games against London teams by an aggregate score of 12-0, last winning in December 2024 in a 3-1 win against West Ham.

• QPR have won just two of their last 21 away league games that have kicked off at 3pm on a Saturday (D7 L12), wins against Wrexham in September and Bristol City in October this season.

• Leicester manager Gary Rowett has won just two of his last 12 league games against QPR (D5 L5) and is winless in three (D1 L2).

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QPR head coach Julien Stephan described his side's performance against Birmingham as "embarrassing" as they fell to a 1-0 defeat on Wednesday night.

A goal in the sixth minute from Patrick Roberts condemned the Hoops to a fourth consecutive loss, and to 18th in the Championship table.

"The first half was more than disappointing, I think it was an embarrassing," he told BBC Radio London.

"We lost all of the duels from the moment we came onto the pitch, and so when you lose the duels it is very difficult to play football," he said.

"It was better in the second half, maybe because the players we brought on brought more quality and intensity, but maybe it is because Birmingham dropped their intensity in the second half."

Stephan said the club's current points tally could give them confidence despite the poor run of form.

"The worst thing to do is to panic because we have 47 points and we have nine points more than those teams in the relegation zone.

"We know we need to win four or five more points to stay in the league and that is the next objective for us.

"Everybody knows that, but if you want to realise that quickly we need to increase the standards."

Image source, Opta

Birmingham and QPR will seek to stop the rot and get back on track as they meet at St Andrew's on Wednesday night (19:45 GMT).

Blues have lost three straight games for the first time this season to slip to 12th, eight points adrift of the play-offs, having played a game more than sixth-placed Wrexham.

Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Charlton means they have scored only once and conceded seven goals in that run.

QPR have also lost three in a row by a combined score of 11-0.

Sunday's 4-0 home humbling by Middlesbrough left them 16th, two points behind Blues, while their last away game was a 5-0 defeat at Southampton.

• Birmingham have lost their past two league games against QPR, last losing three in a row against them in April 2018.

• Having won just nine of their first 43 league games against Birmingham (21%), QPR have now won 12 of their past 22 against the Blues (55%).

• Birmingham lost 3-1 in their last home league game, last losing consecutively at St Andrew's in March 2024 (3 in a row).

• QPR have won just one of their past nine away league games (D4 L4), beating Hull City 3-1 last month.

• Birmingham's Jay Stansfield has been involved in 11 goals in his past 14 home league games (7 goals, 4 assists, despite scoring just once in his past nine at St Andrew's.

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QPR head coach Julien Stephan was philosophical after his side suffered a 4-0 home defeat to promotion-chasing Middlesbrough on Sunday.

The Hoops have now lost three straight games by a combined 11-0, despite starting each half brightly for around 15 minutes.

"When you lose against a top, top team, you have to accept [it]," Stephan said. "And they are better than us. This is the reality. They deserve their win.

"They had more quality, individually and collectively. More quality with the ball and without the ball. I have to say that we lost against a better team than us.

"We will not face an opponent like this every time, but we need to be able to show more quality in possession.

"In the last three games we didn't score. In football if you don't score and are only in defensive positions it's very difficult to get a good result.

"Of course we are not happy. It's a difficult moment when you lose three games in a row and you concede many goals.

"But I want to protect my players, because I know them and I know they tried to give their best. We need to stay together."

The R's will seek to get back on track as they head to Birmingham City on Wednesday (19:45 GMT).