Mark Hughes confident Adel Taarabt will remain at QPR

Mark Hughes is confident Adel Taarabt will stay at QPR in January after admitting the Moroccan will be key to the club's chances of staying in the Barclays Premier League.

Taarabt has been one this season's rare successes at the west London club, who are looking to win their first game of the season at the 11th attempt when they visit Stoke tomorrow.

After joining the Rs permanently in 2010 Taarabt was a huge success, scoring 19 goals and providing countless assists to help the club earn promotion to the Premier League.

He found life hard in the top flight last season, though, with rumours of indiscipline off the pitch and poor form on it leading many to claim the 23-year-old was unable to cut it at the highest level.

Hughes seems to have got the best out of the former Tottenham man since, however. His form has led to suggestions Arsenal may move for the player, but Hughes insists Taarabt is happy at Rangers.

"It wouldn't surprise me if clubs were looking at him but I know for a fact that he is very happy here and he sees his future here," Hughes said.

"This is the best place for him because we support him, we give him the best chance to be successful, and he understands that."

Taarabt has missed a large chunk of QPR's season thanks to a hamstring injury, but he is now fully fit and has impressed Hughes since he returned to the Rangers starting XI almost three weeks ago.

Indeed Taarabt's form has been so good that Hughes rates him up there with some of the best players he has worked with.

Given that the Welshman has played in teams containing Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Roy Keane, and has managed stars like Carlos Tevez at Manchester City, such a compliment should not be taken lightly.

"He's an outstanding player," Hughes said.

"In terms of ability alone he is arguably one of the best players I have played or worked with.

"Obviously that is not the whole package. There are still parts of his game that he has to work on and he understands that.

"He is working exceptionally hard for there team, which in the past has been a criticism of him. That's not the case now.

"He is in a really good place now in terms of his attitude to his work and what he is able to produce on the pitch.

"We are really pleased with what he is showing on the pitch."

While Hughes was keen to talk about Taarabt's commitment to QPR, his own future was also up for debate as he faced the media at the club's training ground.

Hughes brought in 11 first-team players this summer - from such clubs as Inter Milan and Real Madrid - but he has failed to deliver Tony Fernandes a single win so far this term.

The QPR owner once again reaffirmed his support for Hughes this week, and the 49-year-old has no doubt he is the right man to drag the Londoners away from the relegation zone.

"If we were playing particularly poorly and not getting results then you would start to look at the situation and think maybe it's not possible to turn it around, but that's not the case," Hughes said.

"You look at our last three games and I think we have played fine in those games without getting the points we think we deserved.

"We are doing okay. There are elements of our play that need to improve because we haven't been able to see games out, but we are all convinced that will change fairly soon."

PA