QPR boss won’t make major changes for cup tie

QPR boss Mick Beale says he will make minimal changes for the Carabao Cup tie at Charlton – a policy endorsed by his players.

While his predecessor Mark Warburton tended to chop and change, largely on the basis of statistical data, Beale insists his approach will be to pick his best line-up whenever possible.

And the squad have told him they agree.

Beale explained: “It’s ‘earn the shirt’. If you’ve got it then you keep it.

“That’s what the group asked of me, because I spoke to them about it and said: ‘How do you want to play it? Surely the best team has got to play every time?’ And that’s what they want – they want people to earn the shirt and keep it.

“So that’s the rule they’ve set for themselves and it’ll be me that upholds it. There will maybe be two or three, but not wholesale changes.

“We want to go there and win. My job is to pick the strongest team for QPR every game, so don’t expect many changes. The players will have to recover.”

Young striker Sinclair Armstrong is expected to feature and loan signing Tyler Roberts, who has been nursing a thigh problem, is set to make his debut.

Beale added: “I want us to go on a cup run. It’s important we have a cup run. Maybe the Carabao Cup is seen as a lesser competition for others but it won’t be for QPR.

“It’s a London derby and we’re going there to start our away form really, because we lost our last away game and want to get off the mark.”