QPR baying for Arsenal blood

Charlie Austin believes Queens Park Rangers are ready to kick-start their fight for Barclays Premier League survival when they return to action against Arsenal on Wednesday.

QPR did not play last weekend due to Tottenham Hotspur's involvement in the Capital One Cup final and they watched from Dubai as Sunderland, Burnley and Aston Villa, who are also fighting relegation, all lost.

Chris Ramsey's side are out of the bottom three on goal difference only, but have a match in hand on all of the teams around them, with the exception of bottom-club Leicester City. Austin, QPR’s top scorer in the league with 14 goals, is confident they have what it takes to haul themselves clear.

"We're raring to go, we have got two big games at home coming up [with Spurs visiting on Saturday]," he told qpr.co.uk. "Hopefully we can continue our home form.

"We've got 12 games left, a big 12 games - it's a 12-game season now for us, hopefully we can get enough points."

QPR's home form had been in stark contrast to their away record until the end of December, but the west London club have taken just two points from their last four outings at Loftus Road.

Successive defeats by Manchester United and Southampton have harmed their bid for survival, and Wednesday's visit of another Uefa Champions League-chasing team is sure to represent a tough test.

Arsenal sit just four points adrift of second-placed Manchester City after their 2-0 win over Everton on Sunday, and goalkeeper David Ospina feels upbeat despite last Wednesday's Uefa Champions League defeat by Monaco.

"We know we are close to them now but we need to concentrate on ourselves and not think about them [City]," said the Colombia goalkeeper. "We will keep doing our job, picking up points and then see what happens.

"After what happened against Monaco, the only thing that was important was to continue increasing our confidence and keeping heading up the table.  Now we are already thinking about the next one, which is QPR."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been handed a fitness boost, with midfielder Aaron Ramsey returning to the match-day squad.

The Wales international has been absent for the past four matches in all competitions after suffering a recurrence of the hamstring injury that has plagued him this season.

But Ramsey is available for the trip to Loftus Road, while teammate Francis Coquelin could play with a protective mask after suffering a facial injury in Sunday's 2-0 win over Everton.

QPR midfielder Sandro is in contention to start after recovering from a knee injury. Nedum Onuoha (hamstring) and Mauricio Isla (knee) will miss the match though, while Leroy Fer, Richard Dunne and Alejandro Faurlin remain long-term absentees. Captain Joey Barton begins his three-match suspension after being sent off against Hull City.

Match Facts

QPR have won one of the last seven Barclays Premier League matches against Arsenal (W1 D1 L5).

Arsenal have only won one of their six League visits to Loftus Road (W1 D3 L2) and have scored 13 goals in 13 BPL matches against QPR home and away.

Theo Walcott has scored Arsenal's only goal of the match in both of his two previous Barclays Premier League appearances at Loftus Road.

Arsenal have not won back-to-back BPL away matches this season and each of their previous five away victories have been followed by defeat on their next road trip.

Queens Park Rangers (from): Green, McCarthy, Murphy, Caulker, Ferdinand, Hill, Traore, Yun, Doughty, Henry, Hoilett, Kranjcar, Phillips, Wright-Phillips, Austin, Taarabt, Vargas, Zamora, Zarate.

Arsenal (from): Martinez, Ospina, Szczesny, Bellerin, Chambers, Gibbs, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal, Cazorla, Coquelin, Gabriel, Gnabry, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Ramsey, Rosicky, Akpom, Giroud, Sanchez, Walcott, Welbeck.

Match Appointments

Referee: Kevin Friend

Assistants: M Mullarkey, N McDonough

Fourth Official: L Probert

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