Friendly against Al Ittihad postponed and venue change for Under-21s match ...
- R's pre-season fixture against Al Ittihad postponed
- Chris Ramsey's side to play a practice match
- Under-21s venue changed for match against FC Lugano
QPR’S friendly fixture against Al Ittihad – scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) – has been postponed.
Rangers’ tour operators for the trip to Italy informed the club in the last 48 hours of the non-fulfilment and despite the R’s looking for new opponents, no fixture was able to be arranged at such short notice.
As a result, Chris Ramsey’s side will now play an internal practice match at Stadio Comunale di Dormelletto, Arona – kick-off 15.45pm local time (14.45pm BST).
Ramsey told www.qpr.co.uk: “It’s obviously disappointing, but it is what it is. Our plans won’t be affected too much and we’ll still make sure the lads get a decent workout.
“We’ve had a really productive week out here and whilst we’d have liked to have finished it with a proper fixture, this internal practice match gives us another opportunity to put the players through their paces in a competitive environment, which is vital at this time of the season.”
Director of Football, Les Ferdinand, added: “We’re extremely disappointed at how let down we have been by third party partners that we have been working with throughout this tour.
“All the changes that have been made have been completely out of our hands, as extensive preparations had gone into the camp, with two separate inspection trips. For whatever reason, the arrangements that we had in place have been changed whilst the group have been in Italy.
“Despite the issues we’ve had, the players and staff have been excellent throughout the trip, never moaning, and the players are currently where we’d expect them to be in terms of their fitness levels at this stage of pre-season which is all important.”
Meanwhile, QPR Under-21s’ pre-season friendly against FC Lugano is the latest fixture to have suffered a venue change due to the extreme weather conditions in Italy at present.
Like the first team, Paul Hall’s youngsters are currently overseas for a week-long training camp.
The FC Lugano match, originally scheduled to be played at the Novarello Training Centre, on Saturday will now be contested at the Municipal Stadium of Lugano (Stadio Cornaredo, Via Trevano 100, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland).
Kick-off will also be at the new time of 11.30am local time (10.30am BST).
Entry to both fixtures is free of charge.
Both fixtures will be streamed live on QPR PlayerHD – to subscribe, click HERE
In addition, fans in Italy will be welcome to attend both fixtures. Supporters who require further information should contact iant@qpr.co.uk
The club apologises for any inconvenience this above changes may have for our supporters.
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