Barbet still sidelined as QPR host Middlesbrough

Posted Friday, November 08, 2019 by PA

QPR boss Mark Warburton will once again be without defender Yoann Barbet for Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship home match against struggling Middlesbrough.

Barbet has missed the last two matches with a muscle strain and is expected to sit out for a further couple of weeks as he attempts to return to full fitness.

Fellow defender Toni Leistner, who limped out of last Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Leeds, is rated at 50-50 and will be assessed ahead of kick-off.

Striker Jordan Hugill returned from suspension at Elland Road, but there was no place in the 18 for midfielder Matt Smith as he battled to shake off a series of minor niggles.

Boro boss Jonathan Woodgate is facing a major selection crisis with as many as nine players unavailable to him.

Midfielder George Saville is suspended following his dismissal in last Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Derby, while keeper Aynsley Pears is a doubt after being sent for a scan on a finger injury.

With first-choice keeper Darren Randolph already sidelined by a thigh problem, Spaniard Tomas Mejias is standing by to make his first league appearance for the club since February 2015.

Full-back George Friend is back in training after a long-term adductor injury but the game will come too soon for him, while Rudy Gestede, Ryan Shotton, Ashley Fletcher, Marcus Browne and Ben Liddle are out and Woodgate has recalled 20-year-old striker Tyrone O’Neill from his loan spell at National League North Darlington.