QPR v Hull City: Oscar Estupinan’s goalscoring form a product of Tigers’ all-round progress

The Colombian centre forward will be looking to add to it at Queens Park Rangers, although coach Arveladze admits his team will need to strike a better balance between defence and attack.

“I don’t think Oscar is at his best yet,” said the former Rangers centre forward. “He has the potential to do more.

“He feels where the ball can bounce – it’s a gift.

“It’s important the players trust him and he trusts them, and you have to accept you’re going to miss the next time.

“Goalkeepers, central defenders, midfielders, No 10s, wingers are all generally minded to bring the ball to where the striker is so they all serve you all the time and then someone can just come and make a miskick (into the goal).

“They were great crosses for him (in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Coventry City) – both wing-backs, (Callum) Elder and (Lewie) Coyle – did their jobs and the ball bounced for him at the right moment.”

It is not just on the field where Estupinan’s team-mates have been helping him and his fellow summer signings. Arveladze is still hoping for two more – a striker and a midfielder, with Fenerbahce’s Greek playmaker Dimitrios Pelkas expected to be in the stands tonight, ahead of Thursday’s 11pm deadline.

“It’s a very good group at welcoming people,” stressed the coach. “We’ve spoken about (Jacob) Greaves, Coyley and other local boys – Alfie (Jones), the goalkeepers, Matt (Ingram) and (Nathan) Baxter, who has been here and knows what it’s about. They leave the door open and accept people from day one. They are good kids, good lads, nice, good boys, good people.

“We all have our own egos and problems, we’re humans, but they’ve welcomed the new boys well and recognise they have to give back. We’re all different characters and they speak different languages but I have to give them good credit.

“After the games, before the games and at the training camps, they’ve been doing things which help everyone.”

Hull’s goals for and against columns are instructive at this early stage of the campaign. They have already scored ten times in six matches – something only Burnley and Bristol City have bettered – but their ten conceded is the joint highest in the division.

“We don’t want to concede goals of course and we were better at it last season,” said Arveladze.

“We have to get better. We’ve played a different system 
(4-2-3-1) with one player less at the back which we have to adapt to. But it’s a good signal not only to us (coaches) but also to the players to realise you can always concede but you cannot collapse like during the 5-2 (defeat at West Bromwich Albion).

“There’s only been one game where we didn’t score but only one where we didn’t concede (the same match, at Preston North End) but of course I want more – to remain solid as a side.”

With nine goals themselves, QPR at Loftus Road is not the best place to go looking for only a second clean sheet of the campaign but at least Hull know what to expect. Whilst they have changed coach, to Michael Beale, the same style remains.

“A very attacking team – the full-backs always attack, they play narrow with two (No) 10s, quite active,” is how Arveladze describes them. “They have a flat midfield that wants to play with the ball, the right centre-back (Rob Dickie) is really good with the ball, they have a good goalie (former Doncaster Rovers loanee Seny Dieng) who’s been there a long time, he’s good with his feet.

“They’re all football, football, football, motivated to play all the time, always looking for passes and switches of play. They’re very active, especially down the right.

“We’ve played a couple of sides who want to play quick and a little bit narrow so it makes it easier to remind the boys of the type of game we expect, where they have the space, where they leave the space and where we can challenge them.”

Arveladze is not expecting any injured players back tonight, but is hopeful summer signings Jean Michael Seri and Ozan Tufan could return at the weekend, when Sheffield United will test the Tigers’ 100 per cent home record.

“The injuries we have are not contact injuries where you’re waiting for the swelling to go down, it’s more like muscle injuries,” said Arveladze.

“I’m definitely looking forward to (Seri and Tufan) joining us. In the last game we had (Ryan) Longman and Tyler (Smith) involved after four or five weeks out and that can really help us at the end of games.”

Last six games: Queens Park Rangers WDDLDW; Hull City DLWDLW.

Referee: S Martin (Staffordshire).

Last time: Queens Park Rangers 1 Hull City 1, February 19, 2022, Championship.