Having won the League One playoff final in May, Blackpool have staked an early claim to achieve back-to-back promotions with some impressive performances in the first three months of the campaign.
A run of three consecutive wins took the Tangerines to sixth in the table before a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Stoke City on Wednesday evening after which Neil Critchley rued the “fine margins” of the Championship.
Nonetheless, Blackpool have six victories from their last nine matches and have adapted well to life in the second tier after a rocky start.
However, only Cardiff City and Hull City (five) have scored fewer goals at home in the Championship than Critchley’s side this season (six), who have failed to net in half of their eight matches at Bloomfield Road so far.
Moreover, the Tangerines have failed to win any of their last seven league meetings with QPR, but did beat the Rs in their most recent encounter in the EFL Cup three years ago.
While Blackpool’s winning run came to an end in midweek, QPR picked up a first victory in three matches by beating Cardiff 1-0 on Wednesday, with Andre Gray’s first-half goal proving decisive.
It was Mark Warburton’s side’s first win away from home since August and ended a run of four successive defeats on the road.
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Only Fulham (43) have scored more goals in the Championship this season than QPR (27), with the Rs the only side in the division to score in all 16 matches so far.
That said, it is worth noting that Blackpool are the only team to stop free-flowing Fulham from scoring, when they beat the Cottagers 1-0 in September.
Rangers’ playoff credentials will be tested even further after the international break, as they face fellow top six hopefuls Luton Town and Huddersfield Town in a fortnight
