Portsmouth relegation rivals make statement signing on day one of January transfer window - in position Blues are desperate to strengthen
Pompey relegation rivals QPR have moved quickly in the January transfer window to bolster their Championship survival chances.
The R’s - who sit 17th in the table and six points above the second-from-bottom Blues - have completed a loan move for Southampton defender Ronnie Edwards.
The centre-back, whom Pompey fans will know well from their League One battles with Peterborough United, has moved to Loftus Road in a deal until the end of the season.
He’s expected to bolster a QPR defence that has conceded 32 goals from their 24 league games played to date.
Edwards was named in last season’s PFA League One team of the year alongside Pompey quartet Will Norris, Conor Shaughnessy, Marlon Pack and Colby Bishop. That helped him secure a £3m move to Saints in the summer - but the 21-year-old has found game time hard to come by at St Mary’s as he departs after just two appearances.
The former Posh man’s only Premier League outing came as a 77th-minute substitute against Chelsea at the start of December. Meanwhile, the highly-rated youngster has not been included in five of Southampton’s past seven match-day squads.
QPR welcome Watford to west London today having drawn and lost both their games to date over the festive period. Their last win was a 2-1 victory over Preston prior to Christmas.
Pompey beat the Hoops 2-1 at Loftus Road on October 19 thanks to goals from Freddie Potts and Callum Lang. That victory saw John Mousinho’s side leapfrog QPR in the table as they climbed off the bottom. Since then, though, Marti Cifuentes’ side have secured 19 points from their past 14 games to sit 17th - six points better off than the Blues, who have two games in hand.
Pompey are also in the market for a centre-back this month followinginjuries to Ibane Bowat, Conor Shaughnessy and Regan Poole. It’s a priority position for the Blues in January, with Mousinho’s side conceding 40 goals from their 22 league games to date.
Stoke name new boss
Elsewhere in the lower reaches of the Championship, Stoke have appointed former Coventry boss Mark Robins as their new manager.
The 55-year-old has been appointed on a three-and-a-half-year deal and will be in the Potters’ dugout for today’s game against Burnley..
Stoke currently sit 18th in the table on 25 points.