Norwich City and Watford boost as QPR handed yet another 'very difficult' injury blow


QPR have been handed a second defensive injury blow just days after head coach Marti Cifuentes confirmed the 'very sad' loss of captain Steve Cook for the upcoming run of Championship fixtures.
The R's strong run of second tier form ended on Boxing Day as Swansea romped to a 3-0 victory in Wales. That was QPR's first defeat in seven outings, since a 2-0 loss at Leeds United at the start of November.
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Hide AdDefensive solidity has been the backbone for the upturn in form under Cifuentes with his team conceding just three goals in that run of matches. The centre-back pairing of Cook and summer signing Liam Morrison had been central to that progress.
Cook came off injured against Bristol City and now Morrison has joined him on the treatment table. The 21-year-old, who arrived from Bayern Munich this summer, was not in the matchday squad for the trip to Swansea City.


Cifuentes told West London Sport: "It’s very difficult when we’ve lost our captain. The other right-sided centre-half that we had, Liam Morrison, was playing at an excellent level, and also has an injury.
“It’s very difficult, especially in the back line where, as a coach, you try to build some stability and where relationships are so important. For a period we didn’t have any left-sided centre-backs, with Morgan Fox and Jake Clarke-Salter unavailable, and now it’s the opposite [side].
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Hide Ad“We were testing Liam Morrison up until this morning and unfortunately it’s a muscular injury that will keep him out for some weeks.”
Morrison started every match of QPR's unbeaten run over recent weeks having missed a chunk of the season through injury already. The former Wigan Athletic loanee is also a Scotland under-21 international.
Marti Cifuentes ‘sad’ at injury to Steve Cook
QPR have another short turnaround before returning to Championship action this week. Next up is a trip to Norwich City on December 29 before then welcoming Watford to Loftus Road on New Year's Day in a 12:30 pm kick-off. There's then the visit of Luton Town to West London on January 6 as the fixtures continue to come thick and fast.
Both Morrison and Cook are expected to miss those games. Elaborating on the latter's injury earlier this week, Cifuentes said: "First of all, he's our captain and he's a very important player for us. Second, he's a fantastic guy and very important player in the changing room. It was very sad to see him in a lot of pain after the game. We were worried and now we know through the medical test what kind of injury it is.
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Hide Ad"It's going to be a massive loss. He has been so important but the whole group wants to give something back to him, to Zan, to Kader and the guys who are far from coming back. It's tough and we need to work from them. Hopefully it's as short as possible and we are going to respond with good results and good performances during his time out."
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