Paul Hurst is well aware of the threat posed by a quartet of Queens Park Rangers heading into this afternoon’s game.

The loan arrivals of Nahki Wells and Tomer Hemed from Burnley and Brighton respectively helped kickstart Rangers’ season after four-straight league defeats at the start of the campaign, while Luke Freeman and Eberechi Eze provide the creativity.

“I’m not sure how often they’ve actually played together, but Hemed won promotion from this league with Brighton and Wells, having not played too much at Burnley, will be hungry to get back amongst the goals,” Hurst said.

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“They were two signings who have given them a bit more strength in attacking areas, but they’ve got a couple of other individual players who are starting to catch the eye of teams and we have to be wary of that.

“Luke Freeman is a very good player who was linked with a move away in the summer and that doesn’t seem to have gone away. He’s got a very good left foot, can beat players and has a dangerous dead ball delivery so we’ll have to be careful with conceding free-kicks.

“The other lad is (Eberechi) Eze, who we really liked when he was on loan at Wycombe. He’s kicked on from there and was involved in the England (Under-20) set-up last week as well.”

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Hurst will go head-to-head with former England manager Steve McClaren this afternoon, with the Blues boss impressed by what his counterpart has achieved both at home and abroad.

“He had a fantastic time in Holland (with FC Twente), managed the national team, but still clearly wants to be a football manager,” he said.

“I don’t know his finances, but I’m sure it’s not something he desperately needs to do. He does it because he enjoys it.

“They’ve had a difficult start, but a couple of signings seem to really help them and they’ll be looking to kick on and make sure they are not one of those teams involved at the wrong end of the table.”

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