"With how tragic our defence looks.." - QPR fan pundit reacts to Nottingham Forest transfer agreement | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

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Queens Park Rangers have completed the signing of Nottingham Forest defender Steve Cook.

The R's defensive options are currently depleted with Jimmy Dunne and Jake Clarke-Salter sidelined, meaning Gareth Ainsworth was forced to field Morgan Fox and Joe Gubbins at centre-half in the 4-0 defeat to Watford at Vicarage Road on the opening day of the Championship season on Saturday, but Cook's arrival will be a huge boost for the club.

Cook enjoyed an excellent spell with Bournemouth between 2011 and 2022, winning promotion from League One and the Championship during his time at the Vitality Stadium before joining Nottingham Forest last January.

The 32-year-old helped Forest to promotion to the Premier League, but he fell out of favour in the top flight, making just 14 appearances in all competitions last season for Steve Cooper's side.

After Cook put pen-to-paper on a two-year deal at Loftus Road, Ainsworth revealed that he could feature against Cardiff City on Saturday.

"He is the ultimate battling centre-half," Ainsworth told the club's official website.

"He will put his body on the line for the cause and he is a huge organiser so I am delighted to have him with us.

"He has been training at Forest so he will come straight into contention for this weekend’s trip to Cardiff."

Is Steve Cook a good signing for QPR?

FLW's QPR fan pundit Louis Moir believes that Cook is an excellent addition for the R's and says that he will help to strengthen their defence.

"Steve Cook is a top signing," Louis said.

"We're in desperate need of bodies, especially the back, particularly centre-halves.

"We wanted him a couple of years ago when he chose Forest instead of us and that proved to be a good decision because they went up via the play-offs and he had a big part to play in that season for them.

"He's been at Bournemouth for years and got promoted with them, played in the Premier League multiple times for both clubs, knows what it takes at this level and you can't really say no to a player like that. "I think with the situation we're in, with how tragic our defence looks at the moment, adding him will hopefully make us stronger in that department. "It's not going to make us weaker and with having a player like that in the building, you'd hope that with his experience, know-how and what he's gone through at this level before, he can spread that message to the rest of these players. "It's a very good signing, I hope he's not the only centre-half we get in because we need one or two more, but you look when everyone's hopefully going to be fit, you're going to have Steve Cook, Jimmy Dunne, Jake Clarke-Salter and one or two more, that's not bad.

"We all know the defence has been a problem for years and we can't keep conceding easy goals, so he's going to make a massive difference you'd hope and I just can't wait to see him now and get him straight in for that first game."

What next for Queens Park Rangers?

Cook is an incredibly solid addition for the Hoops, bringing vast Championship experience to the club.

He will likely come straight in to the back four against Cardiff on Saturday and he should help to make the R's much more resilient defensively.

The Hoops have also been linked with Sunderland defender Danny Batth, who won the Black Cats' Player of the Year award last season, but they face competition from Blackburn Rovers for the 32-year-old's signature.