This afternoon, Iain Dowie and his QPR squad head north to Scotland for an intensive five-day training trip.

Following pre-season friendlies against Stevenage and Northampton - which the R's won 3-1 and 1-0 respectively - Dowie will be keen to see how his players respond to a step-up in the quality of the opposition north of the border.

On Saturday, QPR visit Falkirk, and that's followed up with a trip to Kilmarnock next Tuesday.

With both sides competing in the Scottish Premier League, Dowie certainly isn't expecting an easy ride, and believes he will learn a lot about the quality of his squad over the next few days.

The R's First Team Coach told www.qpr.co.uk: "This will be a good test for the lads, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they got on.

"In our previous matches, the lads have gone into them on the back of a very hard day's training, so they were always going to be feeling a bit leggy.

"We've had an easier session this morning, so they should have a greater freshness by the time the first game comes around tomorrow against Falkirk."

Dowie is also looking forward to the added physical challenge his players are likely to encounter in the next two matches, adding: "I'm expecting two high-tempo fixtures.

"It will be a physical test for the players, but I've got no concerns in that area because I know we can cope with that side of things."

Following our victory over Northampton in mid-week, Dowie felt his side could have been more creative, and that's one area of their game he will be hoping to see develop.

"It wasn't so much the creativity, more the final ball," he explained. "We got ourselves into some good positions, but the final pass wasn't there on occasions.

"Having said that, we worked their keeper well, while Lee Camp had nothing to do at the other end.

"We are where we are, and I am more-than-happy with the progress the lads are making."