QPR have serious weapon that Birmingham City should be fearful of - West Brom know all about him | OneFootball

Rumarn Burrell continued his hot streak in front of goal against Blues' local rivals

Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City are heading into their upcoming clash at Loftus Road with mixed feelings following contrasting results over the course of the weekend.

In a Championship table that has been heavily congested since the campaign's opening weeks and months, the West London and West Midlands sides have both endured inconsistent spells of results, as they remain on the periphery of the play-off places as the season edges closer towards the definitive Christmas and New Year period.

Rangers recorded their third success in four games under Julien Stephan, with the French boss overseeing a second-straight victory in W12 where his side have netted three goals, backing up such feats against Hull City on November 22nd with a 3-1 win over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, with the capital club looking to address their previously underwhelming home form.

Blues' fortunes, meanwhile, are once again contrasting with those of the Hoops, with last term's League One champions continuing to make St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park a hostile fortress, responding to a first home defeat under Chris Davies against the aforementioned Tigers on October 18th with four successive wins, scoring 14 goals during said timeframe.

However, after racking up 50 of their 111 points on the road last season, Blues have only accumulated eight points from a possible 30 thus far away from the Second City, with only Sheffield Wednesday, Watford and Portsmouth picking up less, albeit the trio of sides have also played less away fixtures this season to date.

As such, Bluenoses are feeling a major sense of trepidation as they prepare to venture down the M40 to galvanise their side after a 3-1 defeat at Southampton, mirroring the fixture schedule held by local rivals, West Brom.

And, it would be fair to say that those at The Hawthorns are now well and truly aware of who could hold Rangers' biggest threat on Tuesday night.

During Stephan's maiden transfer window at Loftus Road, Rangers made several intriguing moves as they look to progress forward under the Frenchman's management and emulate his relative success in charge of Stade Rennais and RC Strasbourg.

A handful of those saw the London club looking to fulfill the potential of some of League One's brightest stars from recent times, including Amadou Mbengue, Kwame Poku - who was also heavily linked with Birmingham - as well as the striking duo of Richard Kone and Rumarn Burrell.

The latter duo had featured for clubs who held contrasting aims last season, with Kone's tally of 18 goals helping Wycombe Wanderers reach the play-offs, whilst Burrell scored 11 as Burton Albion eventually staved off relegation to League Two.

Burrell's signature was, unsurprisingly, courted by clubs higher up the food chain than the Brewers, with newly-relegated Plymouth Argyle initially holding strong interest in the 24-year-old before Rangers were able to move for his services in a deal in excess of £1m.

There was an understandable sense of intrigue when assessing how the 24-year-old would perform at Championship level for the first time ever. However, any skepticism which was showcased at the time has well and truly been quashed.

After netting his first goal for Rangers in their 3-1 win at Wrexham on September 13th, it took Burrell five more appearances to net in W12 for the first time. Since then, though, he hasn't looked back.

Indeed, his strike in the 2-1 defeat to Millwall on October has sparked a run of eight goals in a month-and-a-half's worth of action, with the five-time international only firing blanks in two of his previous 10 appearances.

His best performance in blue and white would come against Ryan Mason's side on Saturday though. Firstly, he was the beneficiary of intense pressing from Kone against Alex Mowatt to make it 2-0 after 59 minutes, before rounding off the scoring and sealing the victory through another poacher's finish with three minutes to go.

Birmingham City will be fearful of Rumarn Burrell exploits amid poor away form

As previously mentioned, Blues currently hold the fourth-worst away record in the Championship, having only won once on the road since August 16th.

Rangers will hope to cause havoc in a similar way as to how Southampton achieved their 3-1 success against the Midlands outfit, with Birmingham's back-four unable to deal with Finn Azaz, Adam Armstrong and Leo Scienza.

Stephan now has a blueprint to follow as Kone and Burrell performed in a similar vein against West Brom, whilst Blues supporters are hoping that their side showcase a different side to their game in order to achieve three points, as criticisms over a lack of physicality and control have been highlighted.