Ryan Manning will have to fight to keep hold of his place in the QPR midfield- but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
After sitting out the games against Leeds and Rotherham before the international break, Manning came back into central midfield for the 1-0 defeat to Derby County.
But Massimo Luongo - certain to return to the side for the trip to Aston Villa on Tuesday- Jordan Cousins and young Sean Goss will provide competition for the spot alongside Luke Freeman in the middle of the park.
Manning is prepared to be judged on his performances both in training and during games.
“With the squad we have, you have to go out and earn your place every day,” he said. “Not just in games, in training as well.
“You have to earn your place and that’s the way it should be.
“The more competition there is, the higher the standards are. If we set high standards for ourselves, the team will play better as a result.
“I don’t think you can ever expect to play. You always have to be on your game.”
The Villa Park visit gives the Super Hoops a perfect chance to bounce back from their poor performance at Derby on Friday night.
Manning feels his team have shown the qualities to respond to setbacks having already dragged themselves out of a relegation battle.
“It’s a good team that can get beat on a Friday and go out on a Tuesday and put it right,” he said.
“That shows character in a squad and I feel we’ve got that.
“We lost six in a row only a few months ago and were down the wrong end of the table.
“I think the character here has already been shown in the way we’ve pulled ourselves out of that and got the results.
“Playing midweek means we have less time to dwell on the Derby game. We can get focused on Tuesday already and put it right.”
