The 10 players set to miss QPR v Birmingham City ft Ilias Chair | OneFootball

FLW looks at the players set to be unavailable for Julien Stephan and Chris Davies

Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City are preparing to face off at Loftus Road on Tuesday night in what is the Championship's latest three-game week.

Both sides are heading into this midweek encounter off the back of mixed results, with Rangers seeing off West Bromwich Albion by three goals to one in W12, making it two successive home victories in the process, whilst Blues' woes away from St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park continued with a defeat at the hands of Southampton by the same scoreline.

Julien Stephan and Chris Davies have plenty of difference-makers at their disposal in order to try and gain a crucial three points ahead of the upcoming Christmas and New Year period when games come thick and fast, with both clubs currently residing on the periphery of the play-offs.

However, both managers will also be without the services of some crucial names as they go in search of victory in West London.

There are 10 of those across the respective second tier clubs, and Football League World has looked into the individual predicament of each and every unavailable player.

Ziyad Larkeche

The first of those absentees is QPR full-back, Ziyad Larkeche.

The 23-year-old was a regular fixture throughout Stephan's first pre-season at Loftus Road but suffered a cruel ACL blow in mid-August, meaning he will remain out of action for the majority of the campaign.

Sam Field

Next up is experienced central midfielder, Sam Field.

The former West Brom man has made 11 appearances so far this season and has even featured at left-back on occasions, before he was substituted at half-time in Rangers' 3-1 defeat at Norwich City on November 29th.

As such, it was reported that the 27-year-old will be sidelined for at least two matches, with the latter of those coming against Blues.

Harvey Vale

Harvey Vale has endured a mixed period with the Hoops since signing from Chelsea in February.

The England youth international was sidelined for a long period after his switch across West London, before finally being able to showcase his creative quality under Stephan from August until last month, where he has missed the past four matches with a muscle injury, and no further update has been given ahead of Tuesday's clash.

Ilias Chair

Despite being one of the Hoops' most integral players when fit, it has been an extremely frustrating 2025 for Ilias Chair.

The Moroccan international only made 28 appearances last term due to availability issues, before he was sidelined at the beginning of the season with a back issue.

Chair has made 11 appearances so far this season but is now set for another spell in the treatment room after he limped off at half-time in Saturday's 3-1 win against the Baggies, in what would be a crushing blow for the club.

Rayan Kolli

The final absentee for QPR is young forward, Rayan Kolli.

The 20-year-old has suffered a plethora of injury woes in the past 12 months, and has only featured twice under the Frenchman.

At present, the attacker will be unavailable until at least the turn of the year, although in-depth specifications regarding this latest injury absence are yet to be revealed.

“I’d like to use him more but with the injuries it’s difficult," said Stephan.

Ethan Laird

The first of five players unavailable to Chris Davies is former QPR defender, Ethan Laird.

Laird has been sidelined since suffering a hamstring blow in Blues' 3-0 defeat to Coventry City on September 27th, and after just over two months in the treatment room, it has been revealed that the ex-Manchester United man will not be available for selection until at least February.

Lee Buchanan

Lee Buchanan is approaching 12 months since his serious knee injury was sustained in a goalless draw against Blackpool at St. Andrew's, with the left-back's time in the West Midlands plagued by injuries.

At present, the former Werder Bremen man is preparing for a long-awaited return to full fitness. However, as Football League World exclusively revealed, the club plan to loan out the defender to regain match sharpness and fitness post-January rather than use him as backup to Alex Cochrane

Alex Cochrane

However, Davies has been presented with a key issue ahead of Tuesday's fixture because the aforementioned Cochrane is set to be unavailable.

The 25-year-old has made over 70 appearances for the club already, but was substituted for Jack Robinson after 59 minutes during Blues' defeat at St Mary's over the weekend.

However, the root cause of the full-back's potential absence remains unspecified.

Willum Willumsson

Willum Willumsson has been out of action since the first international break of the season, and once again, clarity on the cause of the Icelandic playmaker's absence remains unclear.

It was, though, exclusively revealed by Football League World that the £3.5m signing of July 2024 was enjoying a quicker-than-expected return to fitness than the club initially envisaged, and he returned to light training ahead of the recent two-week fixture gap in November.

Scott Wright

Scott Wright is the final absentee to feature on this list, with Blues' Scottish winger also set to return to fitness in the not-too-distant future.

The 28-year-old has been sidelined since a goalless draw at Reading on February 22nd and was previously omitted from the West Midlands club's 25-man squad as he embarked on a lengthy recovery programme after suffering the second serious ACL blow of his career.