On-loan Leeds striker Tyler Roberts was the star of the show for QPR, as his brace of goals saw a two-goal comeback to keep the R’s in the top half of the Championship league table.
With a lot of players well-known to Leeds fans out on loan this season, it can be hard to keep up with everyone’s progress – and with so many moving parts in the Championship, League One and League Two, a lot can go under the radar.
One thing of note this weekend was the second half performance of on-loan Leeds striker Tyler Roberts for Queens Park Rangers.
QPR travelled to Reading on Saturday for a tough away day at the Select Car Leasing Stadium (the Madejski). A first half double from Irish midfielder Jeff Hendrick saw the home side take the lead and set themselves up for an important three points.
However, QPR were able to muster an unlikely comeback, inspired by 24 year old Leeds loanee Roberts.
https://twitter.com/bad_leeds/status/1614594951781961729
Roberts hasn’t quite set the world alight at the Championship side, with this brace marking only his second and third goals of the 2022-23 campaign. However, there’s no reason why it can’t be the start of a good run for him.
It always felt like a strange one at Leeds. The questions around Roberts weren’t really about his quality, but more-so about the step-up to the pace of Premier League football. His time with Leeds in the Championship was regularly affected by injuries, which you’d have to imagine had a knock-on effect on getting to the performance levels required for the top flight.
Roberts has 108 appearances for Leeds to his name, with nine goals. With the existing firepower and attacking options at Leeds, plus the signing of Georginio Rutter for a club record fee from Hoffenheim, its difficult to see the Welshman claiming a place in the Whites attack. With that said, its great to see him netting a brace.
QPR currently sit 12th in the Championship table, but they’re only four points off the play-off positions. Leeds fans know as well as anybody that any team can end up just about anywhere in the Championship, and Roberts helping QPR make a push for the play-offs would be far from the most surprising thing to happen in such an unpredictable division. Fingers crossed he can build on the weekend’s goals, and we can see him play his best football as the season progresses.