Queens Park Rangers-Crystal Palace Preview

Crystal Palace return to Premier League action this Saturday when they entertain relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers at Selhurst Park.

Palace (7-9-12) lost two of their last three top-flight matches but remain relatively safe in 12th place, eight points above the relegation zone. They were beaten 1-0 at Southampton on March 3 in their most recent league outing.

The Eagles traveled to St Mary's with a number of key players missing through injury or suspension.

"I just felt that we struggled as an attacking unit," Palace manager Alan Pardew told his club website. "I didn't think our strikers got much protection from their aggressive centre-halves but we changed it around and it worked a little better, and in the second half we were dominant and we were creating chances when Southampton weren't, so it was a shame to lose.

"Perhaps a few more options on the bench might have helped, Shola (Ameobi) is not quite up to speed yet and we had a couple of young boys on there today so we didn't really have the offensive options that you would like but we'll be in better shape for the next game."

Rangers (6-4-18) are fighting to preserve their Premier League status. Seven defeats in eight league matches have left the Hoops third from bottom and three points from safety, with just 10 games to play.

QPR lost 2-1 at Arsenal on March 4 and were beaten again 2-1 at Selhurst Park by Tottenham last Saturday in the only Premier League played last weekend due to the FA Cup quarterfinals taking place. In-form striker Harry Kane scored twice for Spurs, with Brazilian midfielder Sandro scoring for Rangers.

Rangers head coach Chris Ramsey felt his side played well against Arsenal and Tottenham despite coming away pointless from both matches.

"In the last two games, we've played very good teams," Ramsey told his club's website. "But we've been in both games. Had we scored first, or capitalised on our chances, we'd have picked up at least two points. It's the small details again."

Ramsey is confident Rangers can get a result against Palace, in what will be their third successive London derby.

"Hopefully we can take our chances earlier and create momentum," Ramsey added. "We need to get our next three points. There have been positives from our last few games and I'm sure that if we can take those into Palace, we can get something. I really do think we can."

Rangers have a dreadful record on the road, recording just one win in 13 matches (1-0-12) outside Loftus Road.

Palace will have striker Glenn Murray available after suspension, while Mile Jedinak is banned for another three matches. Yaya Sanogo, Jerome Thomas, Jonathan Williams, Fraizer Campbell and Lee Chung-young will all miss Saturday's game through injury.

Rangers will be without the injured Alejandro Faurlin, Richard Dunne, Leroy Fer and Adel Taarabt, while Joey Barton remains suspended.

These sides played out a scoreless draw at Loftus Road in late December. That was the first meeting between the sides since March 2011 in the Championship, a 2-1 QPR win at Loftus Road.

Rangers are unbeaten in seven league matches against Palace dating back to a 2-1 Eagles win at Loftus Road in December 2007, winning three and drawing the other four.

Palace have taken just 12 points from 13 home league matches, and only Leicester (10) have accumulated fewer on their own ground.