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Blues team news...
David Davis could be named in his first senior matchday squad of the campaign after recovering from the ankle injury that he sustained during pre-season. Kristian Pedersen is available to return after missing last weekend's win against Forest because of suspension. Marc Roberts (calf) and Charlie Lakin (thigh) remain out.
QPR team news...
QPR will be without Geoff Cameron (ankle) and Angel Rangel (thigh).
Last five meetings between QPR and Blues ...
Championship 01 Sep 2018 Blues 0 QPR 0
Championship 28 Apr 2018 QPR 3 Blues 1
Championship 16 Dec 2017 Blues 1 QPR 2
Championship 18 Feb 2017 Blues 1 QPR 4
Championship 24 Sep 2016 QPR 1 Blues 1
Form guide. Last five Championship fixtures....
QPR: DDLLL
Blues: DLLDW
Total meetings...
QPR wins: 21
Blues wins: 22
Draws: 15
Ticket news...
Blues have sold out of our full allocation of 1.821 tickets for this game.
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McClaren anticipates a tough encounter on Saturday against a side who altered their approach for their 2-0 win over Forest last time out.
“Birmingham have a great gameplan but they did change their system last week so we may need to tweak things a little,” he said.
“They have good organisation and good discipline, and in Lukas Jutkiewicz and Che Adams they have got two strikers who can cause any back four problems.”
Grant Hall successfully came through 90 minutes against Pompey, having done likewise in his last outing in the third round win over Leeds.
“We have wanted him to be in this position all season,” McClaren said.
“It has taken a while but he has done fantastically well in his rehab. His performance and the clean sheet has certainly caused me a problem, a nice problem.
“I know we still have to manage him but it’s great to have three top centre-halves to choose from.”
Tomer Hemed returned to action as a second-half substitute against Portsmouth but Geoff Cameron and Angel Rangel remain out.
“Geoff and Angel are still a couple of weeks away,” McClaren said. “Tomer is building his conditioning up and it was good to see him on the field.
“He is training very well but it’s still too early to start him. But once he gets fit, and with the other options we have, we are going to have a very strong squad.
“We have to grind our way through this period. There is still a long way to go but we need to pick up points on Saturday.”
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Match Thread | QPR 3 Birmingham 4
Steve McClaren believes Queens Park Rangers will be full of confidence when they host Birmingham City in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday after progressing in the FA Cup in midweek.
The Rs reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 1997 with a 2-0 win at home to Sky Bet League One high-flyers Portsmouth in a fourth-round replay on Tuesday.
That success was just a second win in eight matches in all competitions for the west Londoners, who are still yet to triumph in the league in 2019.
QPR boss McClaren will hope that wait for a league success comes to an end at home to the Blues this weekend.
And the former England manager believes the cup success for the Loftus Road club in midweek will have provided a timely confidence boost.
“There’s no reason why we won’t take the confidence gained from Tuesday into the match, but Saturday is an important game for us against a very good Birmingham team who, away from home, appear to be getting results,” said the 57-year-old.
“It’s not going to be easy and we’ve got to get our feet back on the ground and get back to work in preparation for Saturday.”
Matt Smith could be handed a rare league start for QPR against Birmingham this weekend after impressing against Portsmouth in the cup.
The forward netted the second goal and linked up well with strike partner Nahki Wells.
And McClaren expressed delight with what he saw from Smith in the victory over Portsmouth.
“Matt’s been very patient and not had many opportunities, but the last couple of months when he’s come on, he’s impacted and done very well,” he added.
“He causes opponents problems and deserved his opportunity which he took very well.
“I said at the end of the transfer window that I’m delighted with the squad that I’ve got.
“We didn’t make any signings, but we kept players and Matt was one of them we wanted to keep because he’s certainly an impact off the bench but can also give a good performance.
“Matt now has shown he’s a valuable member of the squad. He can come in, he can impact, and it was great for him to get nearly 90 minutes and get a goal.”
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