Sparky's mission impossible for QPR ,A win against Manchester City would be sweet revenge for Mark Hughes and could hand former boss Ferguson the title.

Sir Alex Ferguson joked that Queens Park Rangers would have a better chance of getting something out of their final game of the season at Manchester City if Mark Hughes was playing for the London club instead of coaching them. That was more a commentary on the current QPR squad than a criticism of the 48-year-old's managerial abilities.

Hughes faces the almost impossible task of helping the worst away team in the English Premier League achieve a positive result against the best home team. Adding spice to the occasion is that another of his former sides, Manchester United, will almost certainly clinch their 20th title if he succeeds.

Since taking over in January, the former Wales striker has looked like he has enjoyed his new job about as much as an annual trip to the dentist. He has winced and grimaced on the sidelines as QPR found different ways to self-destruct in games.

The Hoops have shown a habit of getting players sent off, especially when they are ahead in home matches. Their defence can be porous - twice they have conceded six goals this season - and none of their strikers have achieved double figures on the league scoring charts.

Even a hardened Rangers' fan would find it difficult to talk up the merits of a hotchpotch collection of players: rushed August and January transfer window signings with a handful of survivors from the Neil Warnock era. "One of the better 'bad' teams" was about the best compliment that any of the UK football scribes has given them.

Fighters
But despite their many flaws, QPR have developed a feisty, fighting quality that has echoes from Hughes' previous coaching stints at Blackburn and Fulham. Seemingly dead and buried in late February, they showed mettle in a 1-1 home draw with Everton on March 3rd and then went on a run of five home victories in a row, including unlikely triumphs over Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham.
After fate had seemingly conspired against them in the first half of the season, they have ridden their luck at times to pick up a respectable 15 points out of a possible 27 leading up to the trip to Manchester City.continue reading