Steve McClaren is upbeat about Queens Park Rangers’ prospects when they face Watford in the fifth round of the FA Cup, but he acknowledged the Championship club will need to produce a “top performance” to reach the quarter-finals.

The Hoops reached the last-16 at the expense of former Hornets boss Kenny Jackett’s Portsmouth side with a 2-0 victory in last night’s fourth round replay thanks to goals from Nakhi Wells and Matt Smith.

QPR will now face Javi Gracia’s men on Friday, February 15 at Loftus Road with a place in the last-eight the prize and McClaren knows it’s an opportunity for his side to show their qualities.

The former England boss said: "Anything can happen in the FA Cup. We're at home, it's on a Friday night under the lights, it's on TV. It's an opportunity for certain individuals and the team to show themselves against Premier League opponents.

"Watford are very strong and we'll have to put a top performance in to get any kind of result."

Rangers defender Darnell Furlong, who is the son of former Watford striker Paul Furlong, is also looking forward to testing himself against the Hornets after Rangers reached the fifth round for the first time in 22 years.

He told the club website: “You want to be playing in the Premier League and if you’re not playing in the Premier League then you want to be playing a Premier League team.

“This gives us an opportunity to do that under the lights again at Loftus Road. It’s going to be an exciting evening.”