MARK Hughes says he’s ‘delighted’ that the business he’s been able to do in the summer transfer market ahead of the opening day of the Barclays Premier League season tomorrow (Saturday).
The R’s welcome Swansea City to Loftus Road on Saturday and could call on a number of new captures, including the likes of Ji-Sung Park, Junior Hoilett and Fabio da Silva.
Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, Hughes said: “We’ve had a good pre-season. Most teams and squads are itching to get started now. We just want to get on with the real stuff.
“We all feel that we’ve done some really good, early business. We didn’t want to be scrambling around for players late on in the window. We’re delighted with the business we’ve done.
“We’ve had a net spend of £1.5million, but we’ve really improved the quality of the squad. We’re delighted with where we are at the moment.”
On the subject of tomorrow’s visitors – who will play their first competitive match under the stewardship of Michael Laudrup – Hughes added: “Swansea have got some good players. I’m sure the new manager will come in and tweak a few things.
“They’re a difficult side to come up against, but we played exceptionally well towards the end of last season and beat them 3-0.
“We’ve set ourselves targets in terms of points and what we want to achieve. Last season was too close for comfort for everybody.
“We feel that the quality we’ve been able to bring in will make sure we’re not in that position again.”
The R’s gaffer also revealed that Armand Traore, Bobby Zamora and Samba Diakite face late fitness tests ahead of the Swans clash. The fixture will, however, come too soon for long-term injury victim Ale Faurlin.
“Armand has an ankle injury and Bobby has a knee issue,” continued Hughes. “Samba has a bang on his knee as well. We'll see tomorrow.
“Ale is looking good. He’ll play a few non-first team games soon. He needs game-time over the next few weeks.”