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Hughes happy to be underdog

Image: Mark Hughes: Ready for the Premier League relegation battle ahead

QPR manager Mark Hughes is taking the positives from being the underdogs in the battle to retain their Premier League status.

QPR boss says tough run-in can be a positive

QPR manager Mark Hughes is taking the positives from being the underdogs in the battle to retain their Premier League status. Third-bottom Rangers appear to have the hardest fixture list of all the relegation-threatened sides, with seven of their final 10 matches against sides in the top eight. Manager Hughes refused to shy away from the difficulty of the task at hand but suggested his side could benefit from being the underdogs, starting in Wednesday night's clash with Liverpool. He said: "It's not easy - we make no bones about that. It's a difficult run-in. "Maybe, going into those games, the pressure is off somewhat, bizarrely. "We're the underdogs and we're not expected to win. We can use that as a positive and hopefully gain from that." He added: "There are going to be twists and turns. "We know each game is going to be crucial, irrespective of the opposition we're going up against. "It's really key we perform at our maximum. If we do that then, certainly in our home games, we can take on anybody."

Slumped

QPR, who ended their 15-year exile from the top-flight last summer, recruited Hughes to keep them in the Premier League after sacking Neil Warnock. But, after a brief bounce, they have lost five and drawn two of their last seven games in all competitions and have slumped into the drop zone. "It's been frustrating," Hughes said of his 10 matches in charge. "We haven't helped ourselves on some occasions and, on other occasions, circumstances have gone against us. "But we're still very, very confident that we have enough ability to make sure that we're still in the Premier League next year. "It's going to take hard work - we realise that - and we're not going to stick our heads in the sand and think otherwise. "But we've got enough quality to score enough goals and defend our goal as well. "That gives me confidence that, in the next games that we have, we'll get points on the board."
Fair crack
He added: "We just need a fair crack of the whip. "If we perform as we know we can, at our maximum, and we get that element of luck that you have to have to be successful then we'll be fine. "But it needs to start quickly and it needs to start on Wednesday." Rangers will have had 11 days to stew over their controversial defeat at Bolton by the time they run-out against Liverpool. Hughes scoffed when asked if he had tried anything different in the interim, saying: "Why would I do that? "I've been doing this for 10 years now. I know what works at the Premier League level, so it's not a case of swapping things around or trying to change things I know work." Hughes had good news on the injury front, with DJ Campbell backing in training and set to return to action early next month. Top scorer Heidar Helguson, who has been out almost two months with a groin problem, could also be back soon. Hughes said: "We're hoping to get the green light from his surgeon, because he feels really good, feels he can step up his rehab. "Hopefully, we can get him involved and do some more functional work for the next couple weeks and then he should be back." Adel Taarabt could feature against Liverpool after shaking off a hamstring strain, while Hughes has no fresh fitness concerns.

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