Sports Mole previews the London derby between Crystal Palace and QPR at Selhurst Park as Rangers seek three vital points in their Premier League survival fight.

Queens Park Rangers visit Crystal Palace on Saturday for a third consecutive London derby which they hope will bring them more joy than the previous two.

The Hoops have lost 2-1 at home to both of the capital's top-four contenders, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, to fall back into the Premier League relegation zone.

Interim boss Chris Ramsey admitted to 'feeling sick' for his players in the wake of the valiant Arsenal defeat and was also left cursing his luck after going down to Spurs.

A man that he helped mentor through the White Hart Lane academy, Harry Kane, did the damage, but Ramsey was aggrieved that his side were denied penalties for Hugo Lloris's foul on Mauricio Isla and an alleged handball by Nabil Bentaleb.

Failing to take advantage of being involved in the only top-flight fixture of last weekend means that Rangers stay three points adrift of safety and their momentum has stalled following their 2-0 victory at Sunderland last month.

That result remains their solitary win under Ramsey's stewardship and their only away points of the season, a statistic that must change if they are to avoid returning straight to the Championship and the financial implications that go with it. Trips to Liverpool and Manchester City await.

Their opponents may be eight points clear of trouble following four wins under Alan Pardew, but only one of those has come at Selhurst Park and the Palace manager has admitted that they must improve their recent home form.

The Eagles have won just once in their last seven outings on their own patch and saw a five-match winning streak on the road ended by Sadio Mane's late winner for Southampton at St Mary's Stadium last week.

Both teams are without their suspended captains for this one as Joey Barton serves the final match of his three-game ban and Mile Jedinak sits out following an elbow on Diafra Sakho which earned him four games of inactivity.

Jedinak's absence, along with that of Jordon Mutch, who quit QPR for Palace in January after only six months at Loftus Road but now has a thigh problem, leaves James McArthur and Joe Ledley as Palace's likely midfield pair.

Glenn Murray is available again after missing the Saints match and should return to play the lone-striker role for the hosts, with Marouane Chamakh, Yaya Sanogo and Fraizer Campbell among the eight Palace players sidelined.

The visitors are also left short by injuries as Alejandro Faurlin, Richard Dunne, Leroy Fer and Adel Taarabt remain out, though Darnell Furlong is expected to return to the squad after missing the Spurs loss with a calf strain.

Isla is their latest fitness doubt and so either Junior Hoilett or Niko Kranjcar will be recalled on the left wing. The goalscoring responsibility will again fall on the shoulders of 15-goal Charlie Austin, tipped for a summer exit this week.

December's stalemate between these sides, the seventh game in succession that Palace have failed to beat Rangers, is QPR's only goalless draw of the season to date.

Palace:

Form in Premier League: LWDLWL
Form in all competitions: WDLLWL

Possible starting lineup: Speroni; Ward, Dann, Delaney, Kelly; Bolasie, McArthur, Ledley, Zaha; Puncheon; Murray

QPR:

Form in Premier League: LLWLLL

Possible starting lineup: Green; Onuoha, Ferdinand, Caulker, Yun; Phillips, Sandro, Henry, Hoilett; Austin, Zamora

Sports Mole says: 2-0