Julien Stephan has a secret QPR weapon up his sleeve ready to be unleashed | OneFootball

Julien Stephan will be hoping that summer signing Kwame Poku can aid Queens Park Rangers' promotion push.

Queens Park Rangers have experienced a topsy-turvy opening few months to the campaign but the R’s are placing themselves in a good position to be able to challenge for a top six finish and the play-off places in the second-half of the season.

With former Stade Rennais boss Julien Stephan having been afforded time after some iffy moments through the autumn, the Frenchman will be excited by the prospect of summer signing Kwame Poku reaching full fitness, with the former Peterborough United potentially a major point of difference for the west Londoners in the months to come.

QPR snatched a dramatic, late victory against Birmingham City at Loftus Road in midweek to make it back-to-back victories and leave themselves sitting just outside of the top six on goal difference, in behind Hull City on 31 points from 20 matches.

Having begun woefully, including a 7-1 loss to Coventry City back in August, the pressure was immediately on Stephan, who is a coach with a reputation for his development of young talent, most notably now Barcelona star Raphinha while at Rennes, and QPR’s squad appeared perfect for him to nurture and develop.

The style of football can often see QPR exposed on occasion, as shown by conceding 30 goals in those 30 games, which is the third most in the division with only the bottom two sides, Norwich City and Sheffield Wednesday, having conceded more than them.

However, the attacking prowess that they have, and the style will surely eventually even out to see QPR capable of regularly out-scoring opposition and providing real entertainment value to Hoops supporters, perhaps already being shown by the fact that nine of their 15 games have featured both teams scoring.

Poku will not only add to QPR’s attacking arsenal but should also raise that level even further, pushing Rangers on from what is already a reasonable position of strength.

Kwame Poku can bolster QPR’s promotion hopes when he gets going

Despite playing just 27 games in League One last season due to injury, Kwame Poku still managed to force his way into the third-tier team Team of the Season with excellent performances for a Peterborough side that majorly underperformed collectively.

The one-cap Ghana international attacker managed to score 12 and provide eight assists in the league, with only six players having had more direct goal involvements than him, despite playing much fewer games than most.

An effective player, as shown by those stats, Poku provided a flair and excitement to a poor Posh side. According to FotMob, only seven players completed more successful dribbles per 90 in League One last season but, of those seven, only one other player hit double figures for goals and assists across the campaign, highlighting his ability to be effective while also capable of regularly beating his man.

The left-footed right-winger was highly sought-after in the summer, with Peterborough’s Director of Football Barry Fry suggesting his agent said that there were 26 clubs interested in signing the attacker from United.

It was therefore a massive coup for QPR to get the deal over the line, especially as he was being linked with the likes of Birmingham City, and he appeared to be the marquee addition for Stephan to get to work with this season, but his time in west London has been stunted.

Having made his debut and played for over an hour in an opening day 1-1 draw with Preston North End, Poku has since only featured on a couple of occasions due to injury, but an 11-minute cameo in that recent victory against Birmingham is hopefully the start of him inching his way back to full fitness.

It could well be that Poku requires a few more fleeting displays like that game against the Blues to hit his stride but, once he does, he could prove to be the main man in an already stacked and impressive QPR attack.

QPR’s attack is good already — but Kwame Poku improves it

Kwame Poku wasn’t the only League One hot shot to move to Loftus Road in the summer, with the Hoops also bringing in both Richard Kone and Rumarn Burrell from Wycombe Wanderers and Burton Albion respectively.

Both players have adapted well to life in the Championship, with Burrell in particular thriving, with the Jamaica international having scored nine goals and just two away from the league’s top scorer, Adam Armstrong.

They are two central strikers, though, so they will simply be excited by the prospect of dovetailing with Poku in the QPR forward-line. Further back, there is also an abundance of talent, such as Ilias Chair, Karamoko Dembélé, Harvey Vale, Paul Smyth and Koki Saito.

Despite the enormous potential of those mentioned and for what it could mean should their entire attack click, there is still a bit of inconsistency to be dealt with, with only Smyth, a fringe player, to have scored more than two goals in the Championship outside of Burrell and Kone thus far.

The assists numbers don’t make for great reading either, with Saito and Chair joint top of the charts for QPR, alongside midfielders Nicolas Madsen and Jonathan Varane as well as defender Jimmy Dunne, having provided just two goals apiece.

Given that Poku was able to create nine big chances in 27 appearances in League One last season, in a season majorly disrupted by injury, his return to full fitness will be welcomed by Stephan as he represents someone who can create with more regularity.

That ratio of one big chance created in every three games is only rivalled by Chair in the QPR squad so far this season, and there is a need for some more flair and output from the right-hand side.

QPR may need to be patient and careful with easing Poku into the first 11, but, once in full flight, there should be real excitement from both Hoops fans as well as neutral supporters at seeing what the 24-year-old can do in the second-tier.