QPR reaction given to 'really frustrating' situation as Julien Stephan faces new blow | OneFootball

FLW's QPR fan pundit has given his reaction to Ilias Chair's latest injury blow, with the Moroccan looking set for another spell on the sidelines.

It has been an excellent start to the season for Queens Park Rangers in the Championship, but injury concerns are beginning to pile up for head coach Julien Stephan.

After a 15th-placed finish last season, QPR have been among the front-runners in the early stages of the new campaign, but Stephan will be increasingly worried as the treatment room continues to fill up at Loftus Road.

QPR facing fresh Ilias Chair blow after alarming Middlesbrough situation

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It is fair to say that injuries contributed to QPR's slide down the table in the second half of last season, and Stephan has already seen some of his key men suffer fitness issues in the first few weeks of this campaign, including attacking midfielder Ilias Chair.

Chair endured another frustrating campaign last season as injuries limited him to just 15 appearances, during which he scored only one goal and provided two assists, and he would have been hoping to put his woes behind him.

The 28-year-old made a fine start to the season as he netted two goals and registered an assist in the 3-1 victory at Portsmouth on the opening weekend, but it has not taken long for him to be hit by further injury problems.

Chair was forced off in the 14th minute of the 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough at Loftus Road on Saturday after he went down off the ball, and while the full extent of his latest injury is unclear at this stage, Stephan revealed that he will be sidelined until at least the September international break, when he will be assessed again.

QPR fan reaction given to frustrating Ilias Chair injury news

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When asked for his reaction to the update on Chair's fitness, FLW's QPR fan pundit Louis Moir admitted that it is a huge blow for the R's to lose him after his promising start to the season, and he revealed his fear that injuries may continue to plague the Moroccan.

"Now Chair is getting on a bit, albeit you wouldn't consider him old, he's hitting a point where a couple of big injuries have happened, and I just worry that this might be a regular thing with him," Louis told FLW.

"Years ago, he played a lot and was never really one to get injured.

"It's a big, big shame because, at the start of this season, he was fit and firing and looking back to his best.

"He goes down off the ball against Middlesbrough, and we don't really know how long he's going to be out for, but it's just a big shame.

"If this injury crisis is set to happen again to the likes of Chair and Tariq Lamptey, who I know is injury-prone anyway, you don't want it happening so early on in the season.

"I just fear with Chair now getting on a bit, given that he didn't play football last season at all really, he could be out for a while again.

"After the way he started the season, we're going to miss him big time.

"He scored two goals at Portsmouth on the opening day, and he was creating chances and looking really good, so it's really frustrating.

"I suppose we've just got to hope he's not out for that long, and he comes back and doesn't get injured again.

"We've all been wanting Chair to kick on and have that one season where he just smashes it with goals and assists, and I really thought this season could be that.

"It could still be that if he comes back from this, but it's just really, really frustrating.

"These injuries that are happening when players go down off the ball, that's not a good sign, so it's really annoying."

Julien Stephan will have major QPR concern after fresh Ilias Chair setback

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QPR made a strong start to life under Stephan last season, but their campaign was derailed by injuries to their star men, and the Frenchman will fear that history is repeating itself.

In addition to Chair, the R's have also lost Tariq Lamptey, Jimmy Dunne, Koki Saito and Richard Kone to injury in the early weeks of the season, and given that they do not have the greatest depth, the squad is already starting to look a little stretched.

Stephan will be hoping that Chair will not be out long-term, but, having suffered frequent injury issues in recent years, Hoops supporters will be braced for further disappointing news about their talisman's fitness.