Since strikers Tomer Hemed and Nahki Wells arrived at QPR on loan in August, the club have had a remarkable turnaround.
When the Premier League duo arrived, The Hoops were rooted firmly at the bottom of the table. However, they now sit in 10th place, only two points behind a play-off place. It has been a seismic change, and they can both take a lot of credit.
However, while they have both helped the performances improve, they haven’t necessarily been on fire in front of goal. Between Hemed and Wells, they have five goals in 24 league appearances. They have largely relied on figures elsewhere to find the back of the net so far this term, with midfielders Luke Freeman, Eberechi Eze and Pawel Wszolek with the same number of goals, three, as Hemed- albeit the Israeli has had far less game time.
With fellow striker Matt Smith failing to register a goal for The Rs in the league this season, this goes a long way in suggesting why Steve McClaren made a late move for the duo. However, if QPR want to challenge amongst the upper echelons of the Championship this season, they may need to find a more prolific goalscorer in January.
Firstly, this will be key to raise the standard of both Hemed and Wells, and incentivise them to start scoring more often. But more importantly, with both Hemed and Wells only at the club temporarily, The Hoops will need to secure something long-term in order to avoid facing a repeat of this August. While there are rumours that the duo may stay at QPR, it is not guaranteed, and the board must start thinking about next season already.
