Fleetwood Town take on Queens Park Rangers in the Emirates FA Cup Third Round on Saturday 7 January, and we have all the details you need to know in our match preview ahead of the 3pm kick-off.
Fixture: Fleetwood Town v Queens Park Rangers
Competition: Emirates FA Cup Third Round
Date: Saturday 7 January 2023
Kick-off: 15:00
Venue: Highbury Stadium
FLEETWOOD TOWN
The Cods come into this exciting cup tie off the back of a terrific start to 2023, with a 3-0 away victory over Shrewsbury Town. After ending 2022 with a slightly disappointing set of results, after an away win over MK Dons, Town will be hoping to go on a cup run, by extending their good form to game two of the new year by beating Neil Critchley’s QPR.
Town were frightful in attack in Shropshire on New Year’s Day and didn’t give Shrewsbury a chance. It was the best possible start to the year for Scott Brown’s side. On loan Luton Town striker Admiral Muskwe was on target in his return to the side after injury, as was Promise Omochere - who bagged his first goal for the club since joining from Irish side, Bohemians.
Fleetwood were solid at the back and the attack clicked for 90 minutes, which hasn’t always been seen thus far in 2022/23. For Town’s good run of form to continue Saturday, Fleetwood will need to take the positives from their win on the road last weekend.
To get to the Fourth Round of the FA Cup would be a great achievement for the Cods as they haven't done that in their history. Thus would be a massive boost to take into their next game versus Oxford United when they return to league action.
QUEENS PARK RANGERS
Sitting 12th in the Championship, QPR were once as high as second but with the loss of their former head coach Michael Beale and a run of some bad results, they’ve dropped to mid table.
Since Critchley took over, QPR have won just once, which was in the former Blackpool’s managers first game where they were 1-0 winner over Preston North End. After that, they were beaten by Luton at home, then took a point from both Cardiff City and Sheffield United.
Even while in a sticky patch of form, QPR do boast a strong squad with the likes of Ilias Chair, Chris Willock, and Lyndon Dykes in the ranks. Critchley has a host of good players to choose from ahead of the weekend's match.
WHAT THE MANAGER HAD TO SAY REGARDING THE GAME
Fleetwood Town boss sat down with the local media to speak about this weekend’s tie.
Brown said: “Neil Critchley is a fantastic coach. He’s been at Blackpool and Aston Villa, and you don’t end up at those club’s without being a good coach and manager.
“He will have his tactics spot on. They play with a 4-3-3 and have great energy up top.”
Speaking about how the Cods can trouble QPR, Brown touched on being able to compete, especially with the game being on home turf."
Brown added: “For us, we need to make sure we are on our game. We are playing a Championship club and its great experience for our players.
“We want them to enjoy it, we want them to show that there isn’t much of a difference between the two sides. We want to be able to compete at home against them on Saturday!”
Brown is looking forward to the game, it is going to be a great advert for two Football League sides going toe-to-toe in the FA Cup, and finding some form is something of interest to Brown.
He said: “It’s our home form we need to focus on, we’ve drawn a lot at home, and we just want to make it a hard place to come for teams. Yes, we have played some nice football, but we haven’t killed games off.
"Killing games off on a regular basis is something Brown wants to see more of, and that was apparent in the Cods’ last outing."
IFOLLOW DETAILS
There will be no iFollow due to this being an Emirates FA Cup game and the competition having their own rights to broadcasting.
GET YOUR ONWARD CARD TODAY!
Make sure you are in the stands to watch the Cods during the 2022/23 Sky Bet League One season by getting your very own Onward card. Adult tickets start at just £14.17 a month and Under-16s from just £1.92 a month!
