Millwall FC jealousy issued over 7-figure QPR transfer deal ahead of Loftus Road clash | OneFootball

The Lions have a tough task of stopping an in-form QPR side this weekend

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

It has been a mixed start to the Championship season for Millwall, who will be looking to back up their 3-0 success over West Bromwich Albion prior to the October international break this weekend.

The Lions narrowly missed out on securing a first spot in the second tier play-offs since 2002 on the final day of last season, but have been backed to potentially make a breakthrough into the top six by some despite not being at their consistent best throughout the opening months of the current campaign.

Currently residing in eighth place on 14 points, Alex Neil takes his side across London on Saturday afternoon as they face off against a rejuvenated Queens Park Rangers side, who have been in stellar form of late under the guidance of Julien Stephan, who took over from current Leicester City boss, Marti Cifuentes, in mid-June.

For the first time in many years, the club from west London have been earmarked as potential 'dark horses' for a play-off berth come May, and many supporters and outsiders were left slightly perplexed when the aforementioned Stephan didn't take home the Championship's 'Manager of the Month' award for September ahead of Ipswich Town's Kieran McKenna.

Ever since they were on the receiving end of a 7-1 scoreline by league leaders, Coventry City, on August 23rd, the Hoops have won four of the following six encounters, scoring 10 goals in the process.

With that being said, Football League World asked our resident Millwall fan pundit, Lucas Ball, which Rangers players he is most fearful of ahead of Saturday's clash.

To very little surprise, Ball identified the threat posed by summer signing, Richard Kone, who the R's managed to land for at least £2.75m after a stellar season with Wycombe Wanderers last time out, and he has admitted his jealousy that they managed to pull a deal off.

The Ivorian has four goals in his first eight league appearances for the club, and has linked up tremendously with fellow creative sparks such as Koki Saito, Harvey Vale and Karamoko Dembele.

It is the latter of the aforementioned trio who also concerns Ball, especially when taking into account the inconsistent start which Ryan Leonard has had at right-back, with Tristan Crama now slotting into the heart of defence alongside Jake Cooper following Japhet Tanganga's sale to Sheffield United.

"Richard Kone is a player I really wanted us to go in for over the summer," Ball told FLW.

"He's probably one (a threat), assuming he plays, which I'm sure he will.

"He's got real quality. Obviously a good finisher and he can challenge defences in different ways. He's a player I really like, and I was slightly gutted when he signed for QPR, to be honest.

"Karamoko Dembele's had a pretty good start to the season as well. I'm worried if he shifts over to the left for long spells because Ryan Leonard's not had the best start to the season," he explained.

"He's been a little bit inconsistent and can certainly be got at, which could open the door for someone like Dembele to cause us problems.

"Those two positions worry me more about QPR than their defence. If we can get at them with Femi Azeez and Thierno Ballo - who are on form - they're there to be got at to some degree, arguably more than we are," Ball added.

"Given their quality going forward with Kone and Dembele, that could offer us an interesting conundrum I guess. We'll have to see on Saturday.

"I'm confident after the West Brom game, but we've been madly inconsistent so far this season so we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully with a nearly fully fit squad back, it's game on," Lucas stated.

Queens Park Rangers and Millwall will be full of confidence amid recent results and injury boosts

As Ball alluded to, both Kone and Dembele have the potential to cause damage against what hasn't exactly been a watertight defence so far from Millwall's perspective.

Rangers could also welcome Ilias Chair and Kwame Poku back into the fold, further echoing the quality at Stephan's disposal in forward areas.

After putting three past West Brom last time out, Millwall will also be full of confidence that they can cause plenty of issues, especially after it was revealed that Danny McNamara, Alfie Doughty, Casper De Norre and Daniel Kelly were back on the grass last week.

Doughty's creative threat from deep would be a welcome boost for Neil, as well as having more solidity in defence and midfield through McNamara and De Norre, particularly when reflecting on our fan pundit's assessment of Leonard's individual performances at full-back.