Many West Ham fans are saying the same thing about QPR star - Julien Stephan must listen | OneFootball

Rayan Kolli was a standout performer in the Hoops squad at West Ham in the FA Cup last weekend

With Rumarn Burrell set to be out until March, it would be easy to fear the worst for QPR, but with 20-year-old Rayan Kolli, Julien Stephan has his replacement in-house.

Burrell hit double figures in his debut Championship season against Sheffield Wednesday, but the former Burton Albion man was forced off after just 21 minutes after a rough landing following a header attempt, ruling him out for a couple of months.

Replacing him in that game for QPR was Kolli, who went on to score the second and third goals en route to the 3-0 win against the second tier's basement side.

The Algerian youth international had found regular starts hard to come by under Julien Stephan so far this season, but his Man of the Match performance against the Owls almost forced the French manager's hand to play him against Premier League side West Ham in the FA Cup third round last weekend.

The Hoops were knocked out in extra time against the Hammers, but it was a performance to be proud of, and plenty of players left the London Stadium with their heads held high and having put their names on the map a little more.

Rayan Kolli received plenty of praise for his performance against West Ham

Kolli was named in the starting eleven for only the third time in all competitions this season against West Ham. His two prior starts had come in August, in the EFL Cup against Plymouth Argyle, where he scored in a 3-2 defeat, and in the 7-1 loss to Coventry City in the Championship.

Clearly, the 20-year-old was champing at the bit to get involved from the off, as he played some great link-up play with Richard Kone, won plenty of his duels with the West Ham defenders, and flicked the ball to Karamoko Dembele for him to set Kone up for QPR's equaliser.

Throughout the game, plenty of West Ham fans and neutral fans alike were waxing lyrical about Kolli's performance on X.

That last stat is true, too. Kolli has played just 285 minutes of Championship football this season, and his lengthier-than-normal spell off the bench against Sheffield Wednesday marked the first time he'd played in back-to-back league games since the third and fourth games of the campaign.

Part of this is due to selection, but the 20-year-old has also had his own fair share of injury issues throughout the season so far.

Those at Loftus Road will be hopeful that he can stay available for the near future, at least until Burrell comes back, and if he can remain fit, there's no doubting that he'll be able to perform to the levels that he's shown in the last couple of games.

Julien Stephan has to give Rayan Kolli more game time in the Championship

Many felt that Kolli was destined for a loan move this January, but given what has transpired over the past few weeks, it seems that the 20-year-old could be one of the first names on the team sheet in Burrell's absence.

Burrell and Kone have been one of the most entertaining frontline duos in the Championship so far this season, and there would have been worries about the attack looking a little disjointed after the Jamaican international got injured.

Some felt that QPR would need to head into the transfer market to find a solution and bring in someone with a similar pacy, prolific profile as the 25-year-old, but it looks like Kolli will be able to slot in pretty easily in the meantime.

The promising frontman now has six goals in just over 1000 minutes of league gametime from the start of the 2024/25 season until now, which, for a youngster, is quite impressive, and if he can stay fit and firing, he'll be more than an apt replacement for the 10-goal Burrell.