Queens Park Rangers boss Steve McLaren knows that their weekend fixture against PNE will not be straightforward and is expecting North End to prove difficult opposition on Saturday afternoon.
Speaking to www.qpr.co.uk, ahead of the Lilywhites’ visit to Loftus Road this weekend, McLaren is expecting a tough test from Alex Neil’s side, who have players returning from injury and new signings bedding in.
The former England boss' side were beaten 1-0 on the opening day of the season at Deepdale - his first competitve game in charge of the Hoops - thanks to a second half Alan Browne goal, but the QPR boss does not see the reverse fixture as a chance for payback; he is just focused on claiming all three points.
“I don’t think revenge is the right word,” said McLaren. “It’s just another game, it’s a home game and we want to win it. We want to start another run after the last one came to an end. It’s about performing and getting a result.
“There’s no expectation in any game. We say each week you have to prove yourself again regardless of win, lose or draw in the previous game.
“They are too good a team to be talking about relegation. They will be talking about pushing on after getting some injuries back and a few new signings. This is going to be a difficult game for us.”
Rangers had been on a six game unbeaten run before they lost 1-0 to Sheffield United last weekend. McLaren explained that they have been working on what went wrong and he was looking for an improvement against PNE.
“We have worked hard this week as normal and we looked at the reasons why we lost and we’ve been trying to put that right this week,” he continued.
“We did everything right except when it came to scoring. We were poor in the final third and normally we are quite dynamic in that respect.
“We were very organised and disciplined, but in the final third disappointing. We’ve worked on that this week in terms of going forward and creating opportunities and we have to react now.
“The squad is in good condition and ready for this game.”