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Hughes believes Ferdinand will play well

Comment: 0 January 19th, 2012

ANTON Ferdinand is facing John Terry again on the pitch and new Queens Park Rangers boss Mark Hughes is hoping this won’t affect his player’s game.

Chelsea captain Terry was accused of making racist comments against the QPR defender when they clashed three months ago, leading to a court enquiry.

Both QPR and the Blues are clashing again in the fourth round of the FA Cup at Loftus Road on 28 January – just four days before Terry appears in West London Magistrates’ Court to air his side over the incident.

The Hoops set up that fixture with Chelsea after beating MK Dons 1-0 on Tuesday night.

Hughes said he will assess Ferdinand’s situation first and see whether he will field him in the coming game.

“It will be different for Anton because he is the one involved in it but, hopefully, he will have his head on his game and perform well,” added Hughes. “He has the character to do that.”

Hughes believes that Ferdinand, younger brother of Manchester United defender Rio, will let his football do the talking being a level-headed guy.

“After that (incident) happened, the first few games he wasn’t himself but he realised now he’s come back and he will want to put in a good performance.”

The 26-year-old Ferdinand showed signs of having moved on as he played well during their game against the Dons where defender Danny Gabbidon’s 73^rd-minute header proved to be the winner.

Hughes admitted their coming tussle against the Blues is a challenging game and a big test for them.

To rev up his men, Hughes said he will speak with his players leading into the fixture and “get an understanding of where they are in their mind in terms of the mentality that you need to go into the game.”

Hughes, who replaced Neil Warnock, added they are ready to face the challenge ahead of them. “It is an exciting time for the club and I am happy to be here. Everybody is working towards the same end.”

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