Taarabt will stay, says Hughes

Mark Hughes is confident Adel Taarabt will stay at QPR in January after admitting the Moroccan will be key to the club’s chances of staying in the Premier League.

Taarabt has been one this season’s rare successes at the west London club, who are looking to win their first game of the season at the 11th attempt as they visit Stoke today.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if clubs were looking at him but I know for a fact he is very happy here and he sees his future here,” Hughes said.

“We support him, we give him the best chance to be successful, and he understands that.”

While Hughes was keen to talk about Taarabt’s commitment to QPR, his own future was also up for debate as he faced the media at the club’s training ground.

Hughes brought in 11 first-team players this summer — from such clubs as Inter Milan and Real Madrid — but he has failed to deliver Tony Fernandes a single win so far this term.

The QPR owner once again reaffirmed his support for Hughes this week, and the 49-year-old has no doubt he is the right man to drag the Rs away from the relegation zone.

“If we were playing particularly poorly and not getting results then you would start to look at the situation and think maybe it’s not possible to turn it around, but that’s not the case,” Hughes said.

“You look at our last three games and I think we have played fine in those games without getting the points we think we deserved.

“We are doing okay. There are elements of our play that need to improve because we haven’t been able to see games out, but we are all convinced that will change soon.”

Stoke will be without winger Rory Delap, who faces a hernia operation next week, while striker Michael Owen is again sidelined with a hamstring problem.