Queens Park Rangers are hoping for a strong finish to their Sky Bet Championship campaign.

Under boss Mark Warburton, the R's have threatened the automatic promotion places at times this season, but in recent weeks, have dropped outside of the play-off positions.

QPR are currently two points behind Blackburn Rovers in sixth.

If they remain in the Championship for next campaign, though, it is more likely that their younger players will be given first team opportunities next season.

With that being said, we picked out two QPR players we think should be targeting a breakthrough campaign for the club in 2022/23.

Conor Masterson

At 23 years old, we think Conor Masterson should be aiming for a first-team QPR breakthrough next season.

Masterson has spent the season on loan in League One this campaign, first with Cambridge United and now with Gillingham.

So far, the centre-back has made 28 league appearances, earning himself a respectable WhoScored rating of 6.70.

With the likes of Jimmy Dunne and Rob Dickie ahead of him, he has a big job on his hands to break into the starting eleven, but after some impressive performances in League One this campaign, he should have his sights set on making the step up in levels in 2022/23.

Charlie Kelman

Another who should be doing that is forward Charlie Kelman.

Since joining from Southend United in 2020, Kelman has already made 15 first-team appearances for QPR, showing good potential in glimpses.

He spent the first half of the season under Steve Evans at Gillingham, though, and failed to win him over, returning to the club before Christmas.

When Evans lost his job and Neil Harris took over, though, Kelman returned to the Gills.

His goalscoring has not been pr0lific by any means, having scored just two all season, however these have both come in recent weeks.

If Kelman can keep finding the net semi-regularly for the remainder of the campaign, he may give Mark Warburton something to think about come pre-season.

 

 

Stephen Duke-McKenna

Having previously played at youth level for Everton, Stephen Duke-McKenna is another that could make his way into Mark Warburton's first team squad next season.

Duke-McKenna made three substitute appearances in the EFL Cup this season before being loaned out to Torquay United to gain more first team experience.

No doubt that experience will have made him more first-team ready and therefore, we could see Duke-McKenna given a role in the QPR squad next campaign.

Stanley Flaherty

A bit of a wildcard choice here given he has only just joined the club, but Stanley Flaherty could be another under-23 to feature for the first team next season.

Flaherty is an exciting talent and a former Arsenal, West Ham and Newcastle United youth player.

He was released by Newcastle earlier this year though, which is when he made the move to QPR.

It's still early days but the 20-year-old, but being from West London and a QPR fan, Flaherty will certainly be hoping to earn a new contract and force his way into the first team squad come the summer.