QPR's Strong Start: McCullough Highlights Squad Depth

Ian McCullough has seen enough false dawns at Queens Park Rangers to keep his feet on the ground, even as the club opens the season with a swagger it simply didn’t have a year ago.

The QPR supporter and journalist likes what he’s watching. He just doesn’t want anyone getting carried away.

At the weekend, away at Blackburn, he felt the difference most clearly.

“They won the game through the strength of the bench,” McCullough said, pointing to a depth of options that has been missing in recent campaigns. This time, QPR didn’t fade. They finished stronger.

“They've got a real quality on the bench that they didn't have last season. In that kind of side the club has progressed.”

That, for him, is the real marker of growth: not just the starting XI, but the players waiting to come on and change a game.

The caveat comes quickly, though. McCullough is adamant that context matters.

QPR’s early run has come against Blackburn, Portsmouth and Bolton – fixtures he believes Rangers should be targeting for maximum points.

“But as I keep saying with QPR, they've played three teams really that they should be beating – Blackburn, Portsmouth, Bolton. Had they lost any of those games, questions would be asked.”

So the signs are better. The squad looks stronger. The bench, at last, feels like a weapon.

The real test is still to come.