From the Club...
'ARCHIE O'Brien has detailed his and his team-mates' desire to reach the final of the Premier League Cup,
as QPR Development Squad prepare to host Burnley Under-21s in the semi-finals on Wednesday night.
Kick-off at MATRADE Loftus Road is at 7pm.
Having never made it to this stage of the competition previously, Paul Furlong's young R's are looking to continue
to create history when the Clarets visit W12 tomorrow evening.
Attacking midfielder Archie - who joined Rangers from non-league Hertford Town in early February -
told www.qpr.co.uk: "It's going to be a good game.
"It's at Loftus Road and it's a massive occasion - a semi-final. Hopefully we'll have a few fans there, too.
"Obviously all the support we can get would be appreciated."
Rangers have already seen off Category One opposition in both Leicester City (last 16) and West Bromwich Albion
(quarter-finals) to book tomorrow night's meeting with Burnley.
O'Brien added: "The challenge of it (the competition) always seems to increase our chances - I feel like we really
want to get to the final.
"It would be a massive thing for the club to get to the final, so I think that extra drive has helped in terms of
beating the teams we have."
Burnley - another club who boast a Category One academy - head to the capital having seen off Chelsea in the
quarter-finals.
"They seem like a good side," Archie said. "There are obviously a lot of big teams in the competition with decent
academies.
"They've shown their quality already, beating Chelsea.
"We'll look at how they play and then hopefully we can then play and beat them in certain areas."
O'Brien, 17, has quickly settled into life as a QPR player - featuring in both of those aforementioned knockout victories
over Leicester and West Brom.
"I've been enjoying it," he explained. "It's a really good club - I'm enjoying training, enjoying playing.
"A lot of the boys have been training with the first team - you get three or four that might come in every session,
pretty much.
"It's obviously an attraction to come to such a good club. We've got quite a close-knit group and it's been easy to
enjoy."
Want to get along to cheer on the boys on Wednesday night? Entry is FREE with a suggested donation to QPR in the
Community Trust.
The game is also being streamed live on QPR+ -'
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Re: Burnley Semi-Final Tomorrow Night (Wednesday)
Paul Furlong on the Club website....
'PAUL Furlong couldn't hide his excitement ahead of Wednesday night's Premier League Cup showdown
at MATRADE Loftus Road.
His Development Squad welcome Burnley Under-21s to W12 (kick-off 7pm), with a place in the final up
for grabs.
Furlong admits he and his players can’t wait, telling www.qpr.co.uk: “To say I’m excited and the boys are excited
would be an understatement.
“We’ve worked really hard over the course of the season and we find ourselves in the semi-final.
“Sometimes at this time of the season things can peter out somewhat, but it's kept the boys nice and sharp and
we're really looking forward to it.
“Most importantly, I'm really, really pleased for the boys to have an experience at Loftus Road under the lights.
Hopefully there’s a good crowd to cheer us on and we’ll be looking to entertain them.
“If we perform how I know we can it’ll be a hell of a game.”
The young R’s reached the final four by overcoming West Bromwich Albion away in the quarters.
Strikes from Cian Dillon (2) and Emmerson Sutton saw Furlong’s side twice come from behind to triumph 3-2
in a five-goal thriller.
“That was a great effort from the boys,” Furlong said. “I’ve seen it time and time again this season where we’ve
probably not started so well, but we’ve shown resilience and robustness to hang in there and get a result.
“In the second half at West Brom we set the place alight against a very good team.”
Burnley also upset the odds to progress in the competition, knocking out Chelsea in the last eight.
While it may have been a surprise to some, it wasn’t to Rangers – who were on the wrong end of a 6-0 defeat to
the Clarets earlier in the league campaign.
“We know they're a strong outfit,” Furlong said.
“We've played them already this year and suffered a heavy defeat, albeit with a very patched up side.
They have good players and their ethos is very aggressive.
“But I think when we were going to West Brom, people never had us to win there and so they were looking beyond
us. That was my message to the boys on that night and it’ll be a similar one for this.
“Hopefully we can get the job done.”
Want to get along to cheer on the boys? Entry is FREE with a suggested donation to QPR in the Community Trust.
The game is also being streamed live on QPR+ '
'PAUL Furlong couldn't hide his excitement ahead of Wednesday night's Premier League Cup showdown
at MATRADE Loftus Road.
His Development Squad welcome Burnley Under-21s to W12 (kick-off 7pm), with a place in the final up
for grabs.
Furlong admits he and his players can’t wait, telling www.qpr.co.uk: “To say I’m excited and the boys are excited
would be an understatement.
“We’ve worked really hard over the course of the season and we find ourselves in the semi-final.
“Sometimes at this time of the season things can peter out somewhat, but it's kept the boys nice and sharp and
we're really looking forward to it.
“Most importantly, I'm really, really pleased for the boys to have an experience at Loftus Road under the lights.
Hopefully there’s a good crowd to cheer us on and we’ll be looking to entertain them.
“If we perform how I know we can it’ll be a hell of a game.”
The young R’s reached the final four by overcoming West Bromwich Albion away in the quarters.
Strikes from Cian Dillon (2) and Emmerson Sutton saw Furlong’s side twice come from behind to triumph 3-2
in a five-goal thriller.
“That was a great effort from the boys,” Furlong said. “I’ve seen it time and time again this season where we’ve
probably not started so well, but we’ve shown resilience and robustness to hang in there and get a result.
“In the second half at West Brom we set the place alight against a very good team.”
Burnley also upset the odds to progress in the competition, knocking out Chelsea in the last eight.
While it may have been a surprise to some, it wasn’t to Rangers – who were on the wrong end of a 6-0 defeat to
the Clarets earlier in the league campaign.
“We know they're a strong outfit,” Furlong said.
“We've played them already this year and suffered a heavy defeat, albeit with a very patched up side.
They have good players and their ethos is very aggressive.
“But I think when we were going to West Brom, people never had us to win there and so they were looking beyond
us. That was my message to the boys on that night and it’ll be a similar one for this.
“Hopefully we can get the job done.”
Want to get along to cheer on the boys? Entry is FREE with a suggested donation to QPR in the Community Trust.
The game is also being streamed live on QPR+ '
Re: Burnley Semi-Final Tomorrow Night (Wednesday)
I have seen us play the Burnley Dev squad twice in very recent seasons. They are tough nuts to crack
but we are at home and we can do it!
but we are at home and we can do it!