Mark Hughes returns to Loftus Road for the first time on Saturday, with the former Chelsea striker expected to receive a hostile reception from the QPR faithful.

Many blame the current Potters manager for the club’s humiliating relegation from the Premier League in 2013.

The Welshman had guided QPR to survival the season before and oversaw a summer window that saw 10 first-team players arriving.

Hughes was sacked 12 games into the season, without a win to his name, and the Rs needed 17 games to record their first of their four wins in a miserable campaign that was riddled with dressing-room unrest between the new players and the older ones.

Armand Traore is one of the veterans and he feels Hughes moved too quickly to alter the squad.

“I believe he got a lot of players in the transfer window and players that have done great things,” said Traore.

“It was too many big names too quickly. We had changing room problems. It wasn’t working well.”

Harry Redknapp has not made the same mistake, with six of his starting XI in the 4-0 loss at Manchester United being regulars from last season – and Traore believes that QPR has a much calmer dressing room because of it.

“I think it’s a much happier club now. Everyone is getting stuck in together,” he said. “It’s much better in the changing room. We go out with the team and get team dinners. We do things together. Before, it was just train and go home.

“Right now, I think we have the core of the players that won promotion from the Championship. I think that’s a good thing.

“We’ve got players like Clint Hill, Niko [Kranjcar] as well. We’ve got Joey [Barton], Greeny [Rob Green] and Matt Phillips.

“The core is there but we’ve just added a few more players. I think it’s good. You can’t just ditch everybody and get a whole new team. I think it’s quite good.”

Traore still believes that Hughes is a good manager who has transformed Stoke’s perception as a long-ball team into a side that has a reputation for getting the ball down and playing from the back.

“Everybody can see Mark has changed Stoke,” he said. “Straight away they changed their style.

“He got players that can play football and suddenly they don’t kick the ball so much.

“I think it makes it harder [for us] because it’s harder to play a team that can pass the ball.

“It’s easier to defend against a team that kicks the ball forward. It’s more predictable but it’s going to be a hard game.”

QPR sit in 16th place in the table with three points, while Stoke are a point better off in 14th.