Mark Hughes: Has rallied his troops for the tough run in
Mark Hughes has challenged his players to 'stand up and be counted' as QPR seek to beat the Premier League drop.
The Hoops currently languish 18th in the standings, a point from safety, with eight games remaining.
Next up is a visit of in-form Arsenal on Saturday, with QPR captain Joey Barton describing the match as "more than a game" earlier this week, claiming "people's careers are on the line".
Asked about the comments, Hughes said: "I think Joey was trying to emphasise the importance of the game.
"We all have to stand up and be counted and make sure that we give it our best shot. That is certainly what we will be doing."
Joey Barton Quotes of the week
"I think we all understand we want to stay in the Premier League and that is our aim. We are fully focused on that challenge.
"If we can play as we did against Liverpool [where QPR won 3-2] against the top sides we are coming up against then that will go a long way to whether we stay in the league.
"It is down to us and I that's the point Joey was making. We all have to stand up and be counted and make sure that we give it our best shot. That is certainly what we will be doing."
Run in
The Rs face trips to Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City before the season's close and on Saturday play an Arsenal side looking for an eighth successive win.
"Arsenal are playing exceptionally well, obviously they're winning games and their confidence is growing as a consequence of that," Hughes said.
"I think the key thing to that is they have got lot of width and pace to their play at the moment.
"Maybe earlier in the season when they were struggling a bit the threat from wide areas possibly wasn't as forthcoming as it is at the moment.
"The likes of [Bacary] Sagna and [Kieran] Gibbs are now playing and giving them a real option out wide, which all the good Arsenal teams had in the past.
"I think the likes of [Tomas] Rosicky are playing exceptionally well at the moment so they have key players playing at the top of their ability.
"As always it is a big, big test for us going up against an Arsenal team who, in current form, are as good as it gets."
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