CLINT Hill could line up against his former club Stoke City this weekend, and he explained to www.qpr.co.uk just why the Potters will always be special to him.

Hill, 36, spent five years at the Britannia Stadium before joining Crystal Palace in 2008. Injuries limited him to just 84 appearances during that time.

“I hold Stoke in the highest regard,” he said. “I went there and had a bad spell with injuries, but the club always looked after me and gave me the best treatment they could. I will always be grateful to them for that.”

Stoke won promotion to the Premier League in 2008, and have remained a top-flight club ever since. Hill believes their passionate fans have played a key part in their rise.

“Stoke has always been a difficult place to go to, especially when their fans really get behind them,” he said.

“I remember in the year they went up, the fans seemed to galvanise the team even more. When you watch them on TV, you can tell their crowd are able to really lift the players.”

While many clubs find the jump from Championship to Premier League football difficult, the Potters have successfully managed to bridge the gap. After a 23-year exile from the top flight, they are now rightly regarded as an established Premier League side.

“Stoke have done brilliantly,” Hill said. “When I was there, funds were tight, resources weren’t great, they didn’t really have a training ground. Then Tony (Pulis) went in there and he really galvanised the team. He gave them a system which consistently kept them in the Premier League, and I think they have improved every season since they went up. 

“It’s a great template for clubs like ourselves who are looking to establish themselves in the Premier League. They are the kind of model you look at.”

Hill has made seven league appearances this season, and has featured in five of our last six. After patiently waiting in the wings, he is enjoying the opportunity to test himself in one of the world’s toughest leagues.

“I was told in the summer that I wouldn’t be playing as much this season, but to keep myself fit,” he said. “And then both full-backs went down with injuries during the busiest period, which gave me a bit of a shock!” 

Having not played for two-and-a-half months, Hill was drafted in for our home game against West Brom owing to injuries to Yun Suk-Young and Armand Traore.

“For the first couple of games I was struggling with match fitness because I hadn’t played a lot of games,” he admitted, “and you look at the calibre of players I came up against as well. 

“It was tough going but, generally, I think I have done ok defensively and I take a lot of confidence from it.”

On Saturday, Rangers will be looking to find a cure to their travel sickness when they take on a Stoke side who have only lost two of their last nine fixtures – with those defeats coming against Chelsea and Arsenal.

“We know it’s going to be a difficult game but we’ve got to look to break our duck when it comes to the away form,” Hill said. 

“We know we can’t rely on our home form, especially with the top-half teams starting to come to Loftus Road now.

“We need to go away and start picking up points. It’s as simple as that, there’s nothing more to say.

“It’s not even worth talking about. We can all say things, but we have to go out there and actually produce the goods. There’s been enough talk about systems, is it this, is it that? We’ve just got to get on with it and start producing.

“Even if it’s just a point, let’s take that point to build the confidence up, that’s what we want. And a point can make a big difference.”