CLINT Hill insists he’s sees no reason why QPR can’t finish in the top ten this season.
Rangers secured their Barclays Premier League status by the skin of their teeth last term on a frantic final day.
But, after making seven summer signings and enjoying a productive pre-season campaign, hope now springs eternal at QPR ahead of the opening day of the season against Swansea City on Saturday.
Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, Hill told us: "I think we can do (finish in the top ten).
"Obviously it’s going to be a tough season, no matter what. The Premier League is always a hard league. You get punished for mistakes.
"If we can cut out the silly mistakes we did last season and try and improve our away form, then hopefully we’ll be in a safe enough position."
He added: "It’s been a tough pre-season because we’ve done a lot of travelling and it’s been difficult with the heat.
"But we’ve slowly got there. It was another tough game on Saturday (the 2-2 draw at FC Augsburg). There were a few mistakes, but hopefully we’ve got them out of the way now.
"We started again on Monday and hopefully we can get a decent result on Saturday.
"We’ve got such a good squad now. It’s fully loaded. A couple more might come in as well, you just never know.
"It’s going to be a tough job for the gaffer to pick an eleven, but we’d have had a good week’s training when we find out on Friday."
Last season was a topsy-turvy one for Hill – a campaign that would ultimately end on a high.
Sent off in our season curtain raiser against Bolton Wanderers in W12, the defender soon moved to Nottingham Forest on loan.
But Hill would return, seeing his season go from strength to strength before picking up both the Players’ and Supporters’ Player of the Year gongs in May.
"It was a very funny season!" admitted Hill. "I got sent off in the first game and I thought that was it for me at QPR.
"I went out on loan to Forest but all of a sudden I was back in the team here, and the icing on the cake was the two Player of the Year trophies that I won.
"Hopefully I can have a good season this year and make it hard for the gaffer to leave me out, and we’ll see where that takes us."