Rowly ready for new deal
 | | Martin Rowlands |
By Ben Kosky
QPR will make at least one key signing ahead of tomorrow's transfer deadline - with Martin Rowlands set to commit himself to the club until 2010.
Rowlands is due to sign a three-year contract by the end of the week, just a fortnight after fellow midfielder Gareth Ainsworth also finalised a new deal.
But there are unlikely to be any new arrivals at Loftus Road before the transfer window closes, unless Rangers can first reduce their squad of 33 players.
Of the eight players transfer-listed at the end of last season, only Ian Evatt has so far left the club on a six-month loan to Blackpool.
Out of favour striker Stefan Moore has joined Rangers' next Carling Cup opponents, Port Vale, on an initial month's loan, while midfielder Tommy Doherty is also a likely candidate for a temporary move.
QPR chairman Gianni Paladini said: "We want to keep our best players, especially the younger ones. But it's also very important we offload two or three players.
"If we do that, maybe we can go back in for a new full-back. It isn't easy to move players on, though, if they are happy just to sit and draw their wages.
"I don't understand that - it doesn't do them any good whatsoever. When your job is to be a footballer and you're not getting in the team, it makes more sense to go somewhere you can play football."
Rowlands, who joined the Rs from Brentford in 2003, has played more than 100 games for the club and was badly missed when knee and calf injuries ruled him out of the second half of last season.
Although he injured his calf again in the recent 1-1 draw at Preston, Rowlands is expected to return to the squad for Rangers' next fixture, at Plymouth a week on Saturday.
Following Friday's home defeat by Ipswich, manager Gary Waddock admitted that the trip to Home Park could not come soon enough for his liking.
He said: "We've had one indifferent result and I presume it'll be doom and gloom again, but we need to remain positive and bounce back against Plymouth.
"We have to sit and wait two weeks before we can put things right, but I'd rather crack on with the game tomorrow and put things right straight away.
|
|
|
|
|
|