QPR face a potential banana skin as they Northampton Town in the Carabao Cup this evening.

The League One side will be quietly confident of disrupting the positive mood at Loftus Road with a show-stopping performance.

But what can we expect from the Cobblers? We asked Northampton Chronicle reporter James Heneghan to give us the low-down.

What to expect from Northampton

It's a very different looking Cobblers side from the one which ended last season, with 12 new faces having signed for the club over the summer.

With manager Justin Edinburgh intent on playing 3-5-2 this campaign, he's recruited four centre-backs in Ash Taylor, Aaron Pierre, Leon Barnett and Regan Poole, who's on loan from Manchester United.

On top of that, George Smith could make his debut at left wing-back against QPR with fellow summer signing Daniel Powell on the opposite side, while other new faces include midfield trio Yaser Kasim, Matt Crooks, Sam Foley and forwards Chris Long, Dean Bowditch and Billy Waters.

The Cobblers have five absentees on Tuesday night. Foley has a long-term ankle injury and Sam Hoskins continues his rehabilitation from a serious knee problem, while John-Joe O'Toole, Brendan Moloney and Shaun McWilliams are nursing minor knocks.

Confidence and optimism were high around Sixfields following a promising pre-season campaign, plus the flurry of new signings, but Saturday's opening-day defeat to Shrewsbury has dampened the mood somewhat, and Tuesday's tie at QPR is seen as an immediate opportunity to kick-start their campaign.

Team selection

With a big squad to pick from, Justin Edinburgh is sure to use this game as an opportunity to shake things up. The likes of George Smith, Aaron Phillips, Regan Poole, Yaser Kasim, Alex Revell and Chris Long could all come in for their first starts of the season having missed out on Saturday.

Prediction

Northampton boast a remarkable record against higher league opposition in this competition. In the last six years they've beaten nine clubs in higher divisions, including Liverpool in 2010 and West Brom last year, but I fancy QPR to have too much for them and win 2-1.