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Furs' fire still burning
 | | Paul Furlong |
By Ben Kosky
VETERAN frontman Paul Furlong insists his passion for playing remains undimmed as he prepares for QPR's clash with Leicester.
Furlong scored the winner when Rangers triumphed at the Walkers Stadium in September, but was then sent off late in the game for pushing Leicester's Joey Gudjonsson.
That led to the first of three suspensions served by the 37-year-old so far this season - and Rangers have collected just one point from the six games he has missed.
While Furlong is keen to make amends for those moments of indiscipline when the Foxes visit Loftus Road next Tuesday, he told the Times: "I won't be treating Leicester any differently just because I got sent off against them earlier in the season.
"Of course it'd be very nice to get a goal and that's what I go into every game aiming for. I'd like to have scored more and last season they were coming a bit easier.
"Looking back on the incidents where I got sent off, they were foolish at the time. Not only did I hurt myself, but I hurt the team and perhaps the club as well.
"But, whenever a negative comes around I try to bring a positive out of it and the only thing I can say is this: it just goes to show the fire's still burning for me.
"I still want to put my foot in where it needs to be put in and try to be courageous. If I wasn't that way inclined, it'd perhaps seem like I was coming towards the end.
"It shows both myself and other people that I'm still up for it. I'm feeling good and I'm not just here to make up the numbers."
Furlong was deservedly named QPR's player of the year last April after he netted 18 goals on the club's return to second-tier football, but has failed to reproduce that kind of tally this term.
Despite pre-season fears that the striker might be prone to lengthy injury absences, he has not missed a single Rangers game through lack of fitness all season.
"In my last couple of years at Birmingham I had all manner of injuries and hopefully those are out of the way now. As soon as you're training and playing regularly, you build up a base of fitness and, touch wood, I've not been injured for some time," Furlong added.
"It's been an up and down season, but I've always said that if everyone's fit and the gaffer's got his pick, we can do well in this league.
"I'm pleased with the way I'm playing and the most encouraging thing for me is that I'm still getting chances each game I play.
"At the moment the goalkeeper's saving them, or they're going wide, but eventually they will go in."
Tommy Doherty could be back in the QPR line-up for the first time since mid-November after coming through this week's reserve team friendly against Chelsea with no ill effects.
Doherty has been out of action with a shin problem, but is likely to make his comeback against the Foxes, while fellow midfielder Martin Rowlands should also return to the squad.
Loan signing Marcin Kus is also in line to make his first team debut after he was also given a run-out in the Chelsea friendly.
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