Queens Park Rangers have enjoyed a great campaign so far, with the Hoops sitting in fifth place heading into this game.

Mark Warburton's side are unbeaten in their last six, with four wins and two draws in that time.

Their last match was a 2-1 victory over Derby County, with Andre Gray netting late on to secure all three points.

Opponents Stoke City will be content with their seventh place, but know they must be more consistent to become a permanent fixture in the play-offs.

Michael O'Neill's side have won three and lost two of their last five games.

Last time out, they lost 1-0 at home to playoff rivals Blackburn Rovers.

  • Team news

QPR

The R's are still without key man Lyndon Dykes, with the Scotsman still recovering from an ankle injury picked up in October.

Charlie Austin is a doubt after injuring his knee in the win at Derby, and and has not trained with his teammates all week.

Lee Wallace, Stefan Johansen, Andre Dozzell, Albert Adomah and Moses Odubajo also picked up knocks and are doubtful for the visit of the Potters.

Defenders Jordy De Wijs (calf) and Sam McCallum (hamstring) both look set to be out until February.

Stoke City 

Michael O'Neill is confident of a return to the matchday squad for both Sam Clucas and Abdallah Sima, after both had been nursing thigh and ankle issues respectively for the last few weeks.

Northern Ireland international Jordan Thompson is set to be out for six to eight weeks with a serious knee problem.

Sam Surridge is still banned after his red card against Peterborough two weeks ago.

Joe Bursik, Nick Powell and Harry Souttar are all long-term absentees.

  • Predicted lineups

QPR (3-4-2-1)

Dieng; Dickie, Barbet, Dunne; Adomah, Dozzell, Johansen, Odubajo; Chair, Willock; Gray.

Stoke City (3-5-2)

Davies; Batth, Wilmot, Ostigard; Smith, Allen, Sawyers, Vrancic, Tymon; Brown, Fletcher.

  • Ones to watch

Chris Willock

Initially a very promising youngster in the Arsenal academy, Willock has already tasted life on the continent after a largely unsuccessful spell in the Benfica B team from 2017-2020. He eventually found himself at QPR last year, via loan moves to West Brom and Huddersfield Town.

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After a quiet first season, the 23-year-old has been a key creative force alongside Ilias Chair as Rangers mount a serious play-off challenge this time around. He has five goals and four assists this season, including four goal contributions in his last four games, with his exploits winning him the club's Player of the Month for November.

Jacob Brown

23-year-old Brown is enjoying the best season of his career so far, with five goals and five assists in this campaign. He has been deployed in a striker role, rather than as a winger, and his game has benefitted massively from that change. 

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Brown began his career at Barnsley and moved to the Potters in 2020, initially coming under scrutiny for his poor form in front of goal. He has managed to prove many of his doubters wrong this time around, with Steve Clarke rewarding him with his Scotland debut last month. He also won Stoke's Player of the Month award for October.

  • Recent meetings

Last season's fixtures between these two produced a 0-0 in West London and a 2-0 win for the Hoops in Staffordshire, with strikes from Austin and Osman Kakay.

Stoke's last win at Loftus Road came in April 2013, with Peter Crouch and Jon Walters securing a 2-0 victory.

QPR are unbeaten in their last six league games against Stoke (W3 D3) since losing 3-1 in January 2015.

Stoke have won just two of their last 17 away league matches against the Hoops (D6 L9).

The Potters have not won on the road in the capital since November 2014.

  • How to watch

The game kicks off at 14:30 GMT on Sunday December 5.

It will be live on Sky Sports Main Event, with coverage starting at 14:15 GMT.

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