With Rooney out, Van Persie is in line to lead the Red Devils.
Rooney, who has scored 10 goals in his last 11 starts, has a sinus problem, while Jones injured his ankle in Monday’s 2-1 win at home to Reading in the FA Cup fifth round.
The trip to Loftus Road is the first of five consecutive games in which United will face sides currently residing in the table’s bottom half, before a potential title decider at home to nearest rivals Manchester City on April 8.
With City facing an awkward game at home to third-place Chelsea tomorrow, a United victory at QPR could represent a decisive blow in the title race.
However, having seen his side squander an eight-point lead over City last season, United manager Alex Ferguson has warned his players to concentrate on the task in hand.
“The only way we can approach it is by taking care of each game and eventually we run out of matches,” he said. “I can understand from Manchester City’s point of view why they are talking about us dropping points. But the fact of the matter is they will drop them as well.”
Arsenal look to bounce back at Villa
Meanwhile, Arsenal have endured a bleak week, crashing out of the FA Cup to second-tier Blackburn Rovers and then losing 3-1 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, but they have plenty of incentive to beat Aston Villa today.
Tottenham Hotspur currently enjoy a four-point lead over Arsenal in the final Champions League spot, but with Spurs not in action until Monday, a win for the Gunners will give them renewed hope of overhauling their derby rivals.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger came under pressure following Tuesday’s one-sided loss at home to Bayern, but forward Theo Walcott says the only solution is for the whole club to pull together and put on a united front.
“We’ve got the best man in the job to get our heads back to where they should be,” said Walcott.
“We need to react in a positive way straight away. We can’t be down in the dumps in training. Everybody needs to be alive and alert, recover well. We’ve got to believe in how good we are.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 23rd, 2013.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ