GARETH Ainsworth has questioned the timing of the transfer window with the clock ticking down on tomorrow’s 11pm deadline.
The QPR manager would ideally be tucked up in a Middlesbrough hotel bed preparing for his side’s game at the Riverside the following day.
Instead Ainsworth faces an anxious wait to discover if anyone will be sold ahead of Saturday’s Championship encounter, even though the Hoops chief isn’t expecting many comings or goings.
He said: “I think it will be a pretty quiet one for QPR. I’m not envisaging loads of business but we will see.
“What I am saying is it is a crazy, crazy time for the transfer window to close.
“At 11pm the day before a Saturday, the amount of teams that are going to be out on the road with their squads it is pretty mental.
“People would have seen that this is the Friday the day before a game day and closing it at 11pm on a Friday the day before a game is crazy.”
Ainsworth added: “We’ve had Tuesdays before where people have actually been playing.
“I think just do it on a Monday evening where not many people play, or on a Wednesday or something.
“Friday evening – wow. That is an absolute killer because we are on the road to Middlesbrough.
“If anyone does come in for some players, there is traffic issues, there is all sorts of stuff going on so I think that should be looked at. It is going to be fun but I anticipate a quiet one for us.
“I don’t want to say nothing is going to happen because you never know but we are happy with where we are and hopefully we can keep all of our best players.”
One name rumoured to potentially be on his way out is Ilias Chair, with the Moroccan attacker reportedly a target for Championship rivals Leicester City.
And even though stories come as no surprise to Ainsworth, the QPR boss is refusing to read too much into them.
He explained: “Ilias is a good player, everyone knows that.
“There has been links for as long as you want to think going back about him moving on.
“It is tough on the players. They’ve got to get their heads straight and everything but I will say to everyone who reads links, it is quite easy for an agent to get his player’s name out there anyway.
“I’m not saying with Ilias has done – these are genuine links because he is a good player. But you see all sorts of links at this time of year and I think a lot of it is people pushing their players and trying to get them out there.
Ainsworth added: “But as I say, I want to keep hold of our best players – that’s what I want to do.
“I’ve harked on a lot in pre-season about where the club is, I don’t want to go down that road.
“We want to keep this squad together. I’m really happy with where we are at the moment.
“I think performances have been good and hopefully in another 36 hours we will know exactly where we are. I’m really looking forward to taking on Middlesbrough on Saturday.
“That is my only focus today – getting the boys prepared for that and preparing as if I’ve got everyone in this squad that is going to make the trip.”
