Joel Lynch eager for new QPR deal: 'Rangers' future is bright and I want to be part of it'

Lynch wants to extend his stay at Loftus Road.
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Joel Lynch wants to sign a new contract with QPR as he believes the future is bright under Steve McClaren.

The defender’s deal is due to expire in the summer and he is yet to start talks about an extension.

The 31-year-old has been a regular this season, appearing 28 times in all competitions and he is expected to face Portsmouth in QPR’s FA Cup fourth-round replay tonight.

The Cup run typifies how fortunes have changed for the club since the start of the season when they lost their opening four Championship matches following the appointment of McClaren.

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And Lynch is now hoping to put pen to paper on a new contract so he does not miss out on what he believes is a bright future for QPR.

Lynch told Standard Sport: “It is still up in the air at the minute, I am just waiting. I enjoy it here and I would want to stay, but I have just got to wait and see what the men in charge say.

“I worked with the gaffer before — I had him when I was at Nottingham Forest. He has his ideas and he is a very good coach.

“He makes you work hard and I think when you really take on what he is trying to coach, you then you pick up results and play well.

“I think in the next few years the club can really push on. I would like to be a part of that.”

Victory over Portsmouth tonight would secure QPR a home tie against Watford — one of only six Premier League sides confirmed of a place in the fifth round.

Wolves and Brighton could see that number rise to eight but they must also come through replays, against Shrewsbury and West Brom respectively, this week. Lynch believes the lack of Premier League teams left highlights how the FA Cup is now a competition smaller teams can target.

“The big teams, their focus is really the Premier League and the FA Cup doesn’t get talked about as much as it should do,” he said.

“I think that gives maybe lower teams in the Premier League and teams in the Championship a better chance when the big guns are not putting their best sides out.

“But we are not taking it as another game. We really want to win and get into the next round.”

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