Hughes fears Diakite KO

QPR are sweating on the fitness of Samba Diakite who has been laid low by a virus but Adel Taarabt should return to face Stoke.

Taarabt missed last weekend's 6-1 thrashing away to west London rivals Chelsea due to suspension, but the Moroccan international is available again for Sunday's Premier League clash against the Potters. However, Rangers boss Mark Hughes is less certain about Diakite, who has been struggling all week to shake off the effects of a bug ahead of the Loftus Road encounter which the home side desperately need to win to boost their survival hopes. The midfielder was also ruled out of that heavy defeat to the Blues as a result of his illness and Hughes admitted on Friday that the hopes of being involved this weekend were not great. The Welshman told reporters: "We're still waiting on Samba. "He's had a virus that has knocked him for six a bit. We've been going easy on him and trying to build him up, so he's just been doing light training."