Queens Park Rangers: Clint Hill happy to test against the best

Hungry Hill: The defender faces a stern test at Old Trafford today (Getty)

Queens Park Rangers defender Clint Hill is not daunted by Sunday's visit to Old Trafford – he wants Manchester United to come at them with all their quality, all their new players, and for Radamel Falcao to start.

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“Of course, yeah,” the defender enthuses. “I’ll have the opportunity to play against one of the best players in the world. There’s not a lot of people who can say that so it’s massive for me.”

It also represents a massive leap. Falcao’s reputed wages are £265,000 a week. Hill once earned £16 a week as a trainee at Tranmere. “When I first started out, it was still the old era,” Hill says. “That kind of money wasn’t even thought about back then.”

But for all that United are on another level to QPR, there are a number of other parallels. Both have recently spent fortunes, both face a challenge to bed in so many new players, and both have struggled with three-man defences.

QPR had to revert to a flat back four to get their first win of the season against Sunderland, with Hill at left-back. He does not, however, put either side’s struggles down to the systems.

“I don’t think formations matter too much. It’s about how you go about yourself and the team goes about it mentally.

“Look at the manager of Man United, it’s about character. That’s one of [his] big philosophies. That’s what you need as a footballer as well as having outstanding talent. “[Louis] van Gaal buys players that will get into his philosophy, the structure of his team very quickly.”