Following Tuesday night's narrow defeat at Watford, City return to Sky Bet Championship action as they travel to MATRADE Loftus Road to face Queens Park Rangers on Saturday 7 November (3pm KO).
Read the pre-match thoughts of, Chris Cohen and Rob Street, alongside all the stats and information.
Opposition information
The R's finished 15th in Sky Bet Championship last season and have made a positive start to the 2026/27 campaign, collecting 21 points from their opening 14 fixtures to sit 11th in the table. Julien Stéphan's side have won five, drawn six and lost just three of their league matches so far, with their home form being particularly impressive having suffered only one defeat in seven outings at MATRADE Loftus Road. Recent results have been mixed for the London outfit, with an emphatic 5-0 success over Swansea City followed by a 4-1 defeat at Southampton before a 1-1 draw against Burnley on Tuesday evening, when Jonathan Varane's second-half equaliser earned his side a share of the spoils.
A man who has been amongst the goals for the R's this campaign is Richard Kone, with the 22-year-old striker having found the net four times in his last three appearances. The forward has established himself as an important figure in Stéphan's frontline and will be looking to add to his tally when the Imps make the journey to west London. Another player who has made a significant contribution in the final third is Paul Smyth, with the Northern Ireland international scoring three Championship goals this season. The 29-year-old offers pace and attacking threat from wide areas and has been a regular feature in the QPR side throughout the opening months of the campaign.
Another key figure for the hosts is Harvey Vale, who has impressed with his creativity and attacking contributions this season. The 23-year-old midfielder has registered two assists in the Championship and provides an important link between midfield and attack for Stéphan's side. QPR also have experience amongst their defensive ranks in the form of captain Jimmy Dunne, who has contributed three league goals from the back this campaign. The Republic of Ireland international has been a consistent presence in the R's starting line-up and will be hoping to help his side continue their impressive home record when City visit the capital.
Chris Cohen said: “They’re a really good team, especially at home, we’ve seen some of their results, they beat Swansea 5-0 just a couple of weeks ago so we know how dangerous they can be, they’ve got a big expansive shape and they’re someone we’ve really enjoyed watching.”
Relationship between the players and head coaches
One of the most prominent talking points surrounding City is always the togetherness and how tightknit the group are and Chris Cohen spoke ahead of the clash with QPR just how much both himself, Tom Shaw and all the coaching staff have incredibly personable rapports with one another and that’s going to be key to any success this season.
He said: “We see these players every single day and the whole group, the new players, the old players, we always talk so positively about them because we see them all the time showcasing the abilities that they’ve got.
“Throughout the duration of the season so far, we’ve shown in so many moments that we’re not just capable of surviving at this level, we’re capable of thriving and that’s all we ever want.”
Rob Street’s thoughts
Rob Street opened his goalscoring account for the 2026/27 Sky Bet Championship campaign when finding the net in City's 2-2 draw against Millwall at The Den. The forward has continued to play an important role in the Imps' first season back in the second tier and spoke ahead of Saturday's trip to Queens Park Rangers about the challenges of Championship football and the importance of building on the team's performances.
He said: “The Championship has been a different challenge, I think the sides we’re coming up against have a lot more quality all over the pitch but I think we’ve put in some really good performances and performances that have proved we can be at this level and give everything.
“The defenders I’ve come against are a lot more of a complete package, they’re all good on the ball, they’re all big, physical, strong and they’re a lot more of a test for forward players because you’re not so much relying on physicality and it’s a different test every week with quite often international players but I’m enjoying it.”
H2H
City's trip to MATRADE Loftus Road on Saturday will see the Imps face Queens Park Rangers for the first time in more than 55 years, with the two sides having met on just six previous occasions in competitive football. Their most recent encounter came in October 1971 when the R's emerged 4-2 winners in a League Cup third round tie in west London, while the last league meeting between the clubs took place during the 1961/62 campaign when City recorded an impressive 3-1 victory away from home.
That success on Monday 9 October 1961 remains City's only competitive victory against QPR, with the Imps emerging victorious in front of 10,151 spectators at Loftus Road. The hosts' solitary goal came courtesy of Mark Evans, but City found the net three times to secure both points in the Third Division encounter. Saturday's fixture will therefore provide the Imps with an opportunity to record their first victory at Loftus Road for 65 years.
Match information
City will sport their anthracite away kit for the clash in West London - HERE.
The referee for the afternoon will be Robert Madley with his assistants being Alex James and Aaron Hallam and the fourth official will be Elliot Bell.
Legendary broadcaster, John Helm, will be joined by Chris Laming to provide the commentary for Imps + - check out your streaming options HERE.
