Ash is back to take a look at the key runners and riders this weekend as out of form QPR travel to even more out of form Peterborough.

Avoiding the R word:
I think most have us have already given up on this promotion now, and if you haven’t, I admire your optimism but advise you to do the same. Yes I do think we still have a squad capable of making the top six, but I don’t think we really have the manager to lead us there and a desire amongst the squad to really push on in this last quarter of the season. By all means, I’d be over the moon for them to prove me wrong, but I think that by our activity in the transfer market and our current form and league position a mid-table berth is more likely right now. What we don’t want to now though is be dragged into a relegation battle. The performance against Forest and the result last weekend, are examples of a team way short of everything right now and in relegation form. Tomorrow we face the trip to Peterborough, themselves already in the thick in that scrap at the bottom and on their third manager of the season (I would of said ‘already’ but three is mildly comforting compared to our revolving manager door). As Matt Connolly has already said on the ever so reliable official website this week, Saturday really is a must win game and the importance can’t be ignored. We need a win to kick-start our season, we need a win to give the players some much needed confidence and relief and we need a win to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle I’m unsure this team has the bottle for right now. Where better to start then against a team currently occupying bottom place in the Championship.

Marcus Bent:
My first confirmation of the Bent transfer on Monday was by a text from a Charlton supporting friend that said “You’ve just signed Marcus Bent, what’s going on there. He’s shit!” Which for me says it all. Living in the Charlton area I know they’ve had to put up with some God awful strikers, so to describe Bent with that charming opinion doesn't hold out great hope. I’ll be honest and say I’ve never really rated Bent and there’s a reason why he’s now on his 13th professional club. He reminds me of someone like Nathan Blake, where he was quite useful in this division but ultimately never good enough for the top-flight bar a few hot streaks here and there (and by streaks I mean games). Thankfully we have signed Bent to play in a division he’s rather more prolific in (or be it not by much) and if played with the front man I think he could be a right handful for defences. He would complement Simpson up front, would feed off the returning Lee Cook and give our frontline some much needed freshening up. I imagine he’ll start at London Road, so let’s hope for a goalscoring debut from our new number seven.

Jay Simpson
The signing of Bent along with Tamas Priskin means an unclear rest of season for Jay Simpson. One would assume that Bent and Priskin are signings at least influenced by our manager (shock, horror!) so they are his men, and having dropped Simpson once already this season it would seem he maybe the fall guy. Especially now we have six loan players when you can only have five in a match-day squad. Which would harsh on Simpson who is easily the best striker at our club. Ok he doesn't have a lot of competition against an injury prone Helguson, Rowan Vine’s evil post injury twin and of course Dave Agyemang. But that doesn’t hide the fact that Simpson really is a cut above in this league, and all he needs is a decent player up with him or at least the useful Bent. Trained the Arsenal way, I doubt he’ll ever really get a look in at the Emirates so there may have been a distinct possibility of a excellent player becoming ours permanently in the summer. However he may not want to if he finds himself out of the team in favour of two slogger journeymen strikers. We’ll wait and see if Jay is included on Saturday, and if so he needs to show Harford that he’s place in the first XI shouldn't be in doubt and the only question is who should be playing alongside him.

Lee Cook
After his cameo last weekend ‘Our Lee’ is pushing for his first start of the season against Peterborough and it couldn't come at a better time. What we need now is one of our own out there who knows what it means to the fans of this club to play for Queens Park Rangers. Too many out there right now are burying their heads in the sand, and although Nigel Quashie is also of the same mould he’s can’t do everything on his own, especially with those precious glass legs of his. Cookie is everything that we loved about QPR; honest, passionate and with that bit of flair to win a game when needed. Ok he’s coming back from yet another long-term injury so we can’t expect miracles or ever to be the player he was back in 2007 but we can expect is for him to give us all in a team that don’t seem to be doing so right now. Let’s hope they follow suit and that Bent or Simpson can feed off a classic Cookie cross.

Mick Harford:
Manager, caretaker manager, coach, cleaner - whatever Mick maybe right now he had to get his troops in line this weekend. I think we’d all agree that as much Harford is a hard-working likable coach he’s not the man we see in charge beyond this season, unless he pulls off something vastly unexpected. What he doesn't want to be is the manager who dragged a QPR side into a horrible relegation battle, or even worse. Three points on a Saturday would be a good start to stop that from happening.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters