QPR's Revival: Confidence Grows Ahead of West Brom Clash

QPR’s quiet revival is starting to turn heads, and not just in west London.

On the latest BBC Radio London show, Izzy Gilligan and Andy Rowley picked over a dogged 0-0 draw at Charlton Athletic, then looked straight ahead to a far stiffer examination: Saturday’s trip to Championship leaders West Bromwich Albion.

From doubts to belief

Back in August, the mood around Loftus Road was edgy. Survival talk, not promotion chatter. That context matters when Rowley assesses the opening weeks.

“Given the way people were talking about QPR at the beginning of the season, I think they've done very well at the start of the campaign,” the BBC commentator said, framing the goalless stalemate at The Valley as another solid step rather than a missed opportunity.

It was a point ground out without four attacking options. Ilias Chair, Richard Kone, Koki Saito and Kwame Poku were all missing through injury, stripping the Rs of creativity and pace in the final third. Even so, they came away unbeaten again on the road.

Toughest test yet

Now comes West Brom. Top of the Championship. At The Hawthorns. No one is dressing it up as anything other than a serious test.

“It's looking like quite a tough challenge given the way West Brom have started,” Rowley admitted. “They're a tough nut to crack and they will have the home support behind them…”

This is where QPR’s new edge comes in. The fear that clung to them early last season has gone.

“…but I don't think QPR are really fearing going anywhere at the moment,” he added.

The numbers back him. QPR are unbeaten away from home at the start of this season and, as Rowley pointed out, they “could've had three wins in a row away”. That kind of form changes how a dressing room walks into hostile grounds.

So they will travel with something they have not always carried in recent years: conviction.

Rowley summed it up simply: he expects them to go there with confidence, and he sees one big variable that could tilt the contest.

There is “that hope they will get a couple of those players back to strengthen those options in attack.”

Voices from the past

The conversation did not end with Rowley. Former Hoops forward Bradley Allen also weighed in, sharing his perspective with reporter Phil Parry.

Allen knows what it feels like to wear the shirt away from home, to chase results at grounds like The Hawthorns. His voice adds another layer to the growing sense that QPR are no longer easy to dismiss.

They head to the league leaders still patched up in places, still short of key attackers, but carrying an unbeaten away record and a belief that would have sounded fanciful just a few months ago.

Now comes the real question: is this just a promising start, or the beginning of something more serious in QPR’s season?