After the successful trip to Ibiza it was back home for a trip to Aldershot for QPR as part of the deal that brought Adam Miller to Loftus Road.

Miller was among the starting eleven for this game as Ian Holloway switched the team about. Martin Rowlands, Marc Bircham and Gareth Ainsworth were all missing with slight knocks whilst Matthew Rose was given the day off after his wife gave birth to their second child last week.

Rangers started with Jake Cole in goal and a back four of Shimmin, Evatt, Shittu (wearing the captain’s armband) and Hislop. Rangers went with a three man midfield due to the lack of a right sided player so Doherty, Miller and Bean played in central midfield with Aaron Brown, Moore and Paul Furlong up front.

Rangers started the brighter of the two sides and were soon ahead after just a few minutes. It came from a long ball by Shimmin which was nodded down by Furlong and Aaron Brown cut in from the left to fire past the keeper. In the blistering heat Aldershot had struggled to put out a side and they were beginning to wish they hadn’t when Rangers went further ahead after poor defending from the home side.

This time it was Shittu lofting a long ball forward for Furlong. The 36 year old lobbed the onrushing keeper but his effort was cleared off the line only for Stefan Moore to follow up for his second goal in three games during pre season.

Aldershot began to settle down with former QPR man Bertie Brayley causing a few problems for Rangers out wide. Giant striker Julian Alsop almost got his side backing the game when his header beat Cole but came back off the bar. Alsop and Shittu were having a tough battle and the striker went close again to getting his team back in the game before Rangers killed the game off.

Again it was route one football which produced the goal as a hopeful ball forward saw an embarrassing mix up between the keeper and a defender and whilst they tried to work out which one of them should go for the ball, brown nipped in to take it past them and tap into an empty net.

At half time the 3-0 score line was about right although Rangers were not producing their best football. Ian Holloway made several changes at the break to give his players a rest after a tough first few weeks of pre season. On came trialist Hugo along with Bignot, Bailey, Gallen, Cook, Santos and Sturridge with Shimmin, Hislop, Miller, Bean, Brown, Moore and Furlong going off although the second half would see several changes where those players were brought back on.

The game was now being played at a very slow pace with neither side looking particularly impressive. Minor knocks to Dean Sturridge and Tom Doherty saw them go off. Rangers were continuing with the 4-3-3 formation but with Santos now up front the formation wasn’t working as well as it had in the first half.

Santos did get the ball in the back of the net though only to see it ruled out for a foul on the keeper which looked harsh whilst Aaron Brown went close to his hat trick when he returned to the pitch and hit the side netting from an acute angle.

So in the end another decent work out and a win for Rangers. With the season fast approaching it is good to see the team winning matches and the fitness of the team also improving. Ranger’s next pre season match is on Saturday when Iran are the visitors to Loftus Road.