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Chris Ramsey today hinted Rio Ferdinand could have played his last game for QPR.Ferdinand is still struggling with a nagging injury and has already been ruled out of the derby against West Ham on Saturday.
The 36-year-old joined as a free agent on a one-year deal last summer after being released by Manchester United. But he has made just 12 appearances this term, the last of which was against Tottenham on March 7.
Ferdinand admitted earlier in the season that he is going to retire at the end of the campaign, although he later back-tracked on his comments. But Ramsey has warned that he is not guaranteed to return to the side if he does recover from his fitness problems.
The stand-in manager said: “Rio is still nursing a knock and unfortunately he’s had it a long time. He will be in contention to play again this season but we need fit players to play.
“If you have a knock and can’t play the way you want to, then it’s the professional thing to do to get yourself fit, which is what he’s doing. I don’t think there is anything like an automatic selection for anybody. But as long as he gets himself fit, he’s in contention.”
Ramsey has paired Steven Caulker with Nedum Onuoha to good effect in recent weeks at centre-half. But Ferdinand faces even more competition to get back in the line-up because first-choice Richard Dunne is fully fit after a knee problem, while veteran Clint Hill is also playing more frequently.
Dunne, who returned to the bench for the defeat against Chelsea two weeks ago after two months out, has been QPR’s most consistent performer at the back and is ready to be recalled to the starting line-up.
Ramsey added: “His return is absolutely fantastic. The injury he had, I thought he was going to be out for the rest of the season. But he has fought well, kept himself in shape. He has trained well since he came back and I’m pleased to have him back in the squad.”
Rangers are still two points short of safety with just five matches remaining. Ramsey, who replaced Harry Redknapp as manager in February, is not only fighting to keep the club up, but also to keep the job permanently. He admits he is feeling the strain and said: “I know the enormity of the task ahead. I can only plan and prepare the best I can. Obviously we understand there is pressure in these last few games.
“I can’t say I don’t feel pressure because I do. It just depends on how you deal with it. I’m trying to make sure the players don’t feel it.
“There is no update on my future. I am fighting to stay in the job. The club have been very good for me, everything has been good.
“I am trying to put that aside to focus on staying up. As far as I’m concerned I’m in the job and will be in it as long as the club want me to do it.
“It [my future] has not been a distraction. When you have a challenge like we have at the moment, you have to focus as much as you can.
“I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it [keeping the job] but at the moment what we want to do is make the battle ahead to the forefront of our thinking. I want to make it difficult for them not to give me the job. If we stay up it will be a difficult decision to not give me the job.”
