Midfielder Martin Rowlands is relishing an opening day reunion with former R's boss Ian Holloway, when his Blackpool charges visit W12 on Saturday 8th August.

The 30 year-old played arguably some of the best football of his career under Ollie, yet whilst he still holds him in the highest regard, he insists all friendships will be put on hold for 90 minutes when the two Clubs meet on the first day of the new campaign.

"It's a good start for us and it will be great to see Ollie again," Rowlands told www.qpr.co.uk.

"I wish him all the best at Blackpool and I hope he's very successful there, but I won't be befriending him on the opening day.

"You can't underestimate how important it is to get off to a good start. It's massive."

Rowlands added: "The first few games give us a good chance to get out of the traps early.

"We want to underline our intentions for the season right from the off.

"If we can string some good early results together, it would give the team confidence.

"Of course, no game is going to be easy in the Championship this season, but we've got to be happy with the start."

Looking towards the very end of the campaign, Rowlands spoke with gusto about the prospect of Newcastle United coming to W12, adding: "Newcastle is a fantastic final game for us.

"It should be a full house and hopefully we'll go into it with something to play for, or even better, having already achieved something notable.

"It's a fixture everyone will be looking forward to, because Newcastle are a massive Club, and I'm certainly excited by it being our final game of the season."