QPR fight back from two down to keep quiet promotion charge rolling

Resilient R's snatch a point after red card

Queens Park Rangers produced one of the more characterful performances of the Championship weekend, fighting back from 2-0 down to claim a 2-2 draw with Preston North End at Loftus Road — all while playing for 75 minutes with 10 men after Dennis Cirkin was shown a red card in the 15th minute.

Given Preston's struggles near the foot of the table, some may view the draw as two points dropped, but the manner of the comeback told a different story. Julien Stephan's side sit fifth in the Championship and remain very much part of the promotion conversation.

"I have been so impressed with QPR. I think they have been outstanding and they can genuinely stay around the play-off places," said Aaron McLean, the former Hull City and Peterborough United striker and Final Score pundit.

McLean reserved particular praise for the club's recruitment and for one of its key performers in midfield.

"Glen Kamara in the middle of the park is an outstanding player who I think could play in the Premier League. Their recruitment has been first class.

"With the squad they have got, I really like the look of them this season. For a few years they have probably spent money in the wrong places but they have addressed that and can look forward to having a really competitive season.

"Julien Stephan has done a hugely impressive job – the 7-1 defeat to Coventry [at the start of last season] has been the making of them – and I am really looking forward to seeing them over the rest of the season."

A turning point that keeps paying off

McLean's reference to the heavy opening-day defeat to Coventry last term frames QPR's evolution: a humbling low point that appears to have been the making of Stephan's project. With recruitment now hitting the mark and a midfield operator of Kamara's calibre at the centre of things, the R's look equipped to remain around the play-off places for the duration of a genuinely competitive season.