Marti Cifuentes’ side could leapfrog Coventry City in the table with a QPR win.

When QPR and Coventry City met at Loftus Road in October, just one point separated the two sides with the R's bottom of the Championship and the visitors teetering above the drop zone in 21st.

The two teams shared the spoils under the lights in West London that night with Kieran Morgan scoring his first ever QPR goal to salvage a point. It proved somewhat of a turning point for Marti Cifuentes' side, ending a run of four straight defeats in the league.

Now, QPR and Coventry City are level on points in 13th and 11th, just three points off the play-off places. Both Cifuentes and Frank Lampard are cautious about being drawn into play-off talk but there is certainly a feeling of the clubs now looking up, rather than down the decision.

EFL confirm officials for Coventry City v QPR

Coventry City play against Ipswich Town in the FA Cup this weekend and then welcome QPR to the Coventry Building Society Arena on Tuesday night for a 7:45 pm kick-off. The EFL has already confirmed who will be the officials for that Championship fixture.

The referee in charge of Coventry City vs QPR will be Will Finnie. Over the last 12 months, Finnie has taken charge of 10 Championship games, 10 League One games, 7 League Two games and four cup matches.

His last match came on February 1 when Stoke City beat Hull City 2-1 at the MKM Stadium. Finnie has not refereed a QPR match over the past 12 months but did oversee Coventry City's 1-0 win over Oxford United in August 2024.

The assistant referees on Tuesday night will be Hristo Karaivanov and Alistair Nelson. Anthony Backhouse will be the fourth official.

QPR go into the fixture buoyed by a 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday night. Speaking after that game, Cifuentes said: “It was a good Championship game against a very good team. They showed clearly why they are where they are in the table.

“I am very pleased for the performance, especially the first half. But the way we responded to conceding the penalty and some difficult minutes, and getting the victory at the end was not only well deserved but also a very important achievement for the team.

"The feeling we have is to get two defeats from the last two games was harsh but that is the reality – it was about bouncing back, especially here at home and I thought the guys did excellently."

Marti Cifuentes on Championship ambitions

With some starting to dream of a play-off push, Cifuentes was asked about his ambitions this season. He said: “My big focus is to enjoy the victory and then prepare for the Coventry game next Tuesday. Right now, we need to keep focusing, trying to perform like we did for many minutes tonight against a very good team, keep on pushing because we know how things can change.

“It cannot be black and white – it cannot be after a defeat, everything is bad. It cannot be after a win, everything is good. I get it but my job is to try to be more balanced and we know we need to do more work.”

In other news, QPR completed a late transfer coup from Chelsea on Deadline Day, beating Sunderland and Oxford United to the midfielder.