No matter which way you look at it there’s a huge amount of pressure on Tyler Roberts shoulders as the campaign moves towards its conclusion. The Leeds United loanee is currently on loan at QPR and with four Championship games to go, the west London club find themselves embroiled in a battle at the wrong end of the division.
Gareth Ainsworth’s side have won just one game since December 17 and Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Coventry City leaves them sitting just a point above the relegation zone. They’re not quite staring down the barrel of League One football just yet, but unless something changes over the next three weeks, third tier football is a distinct possibility at Loftus Road.
For Roberts, though, the final few games of the season are about more than just survival. With QPR having the option to make his loan move permanent if they stay up, the forward’s future appears to be on the line, too.
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It’s fair to say the Welshman’s loan to the capital could have gone better. Roberts has impressed on a number occasions in blue and white, bagging four goals in all competitions and earning himself the occasional piece of praise.
However, he’s only managed to make 20 appearances during his time away from Elland Road, with injuries severely restricting his game time this season. The 24-year-old missed the World Cup due to a calf issue, which came as a bitter blow, and in March he was sent back to Elland Road for treatment after another setback.
At the time there was doubt about whether he would play for QPR again, but he has since returned to Loftus Road and he was included in the squad on Saturday for the first time since January. Roberts remained an unused substitute, but the hope is that he will be able to make an impact in the club’s final four games.
He’ll be keen to pick up some minutes against Norwich City on Wednesday night, before three colossal fixtures against Burnley, Stoke City and Bristol City, which will decide whether QPR stay up or go down. His return to fitness comes as a boost for Ainsworth, but if he make a difference and help the Hoops over the line, it might just push the Londoners into making his loan move permanent.
There’s no doubt that if QPR were to go down that deal would be dead in the water. Such a situation would see Roberts returning for the start of pre-season at Leeds, where, in truth, it’s hard to see a future for him.
He’s never struggled for game time at Elland Road and even last season he made 23 Premier League appearances. That total would have been higher had he not picked up a thigh injury shortly after Jesse Marsch’s arrival at the club.
However, he was deemed to be surplus to requirements in the summer and the development of the squad since ensures Roberts would be far from guaranteed minutes at Leeds next season, irrespective of the division the club find themselves in. The versatile forward’s contract is due to expire at the end of next season, too, only adding to the uncertainty at what is a crucial period of his career.
It’s hard to look at these remaining four fixtures as anything other than huge for Roberts, then, and while QPR’s survival prospects don’t rest entirely on his shoulders, he’ll be doing all he can to prevent the club from falling through the trap door.
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