QPR v Wolves - preview

The Nigerian midfield ace will jet off to Ghana in January for the African Nations Cup and may miss up to five weeks of action depending on how far the Super Eagles progress in the tournament.

Olofinjana's impending absence is a big problem for Mick McCarthy but the Wolves boss has been equally concerned by the midfield ace's alarming dip in form over the last fortnight.

He raised the issue with the midfielder this week and was happy to hear Olofinjana reaffirm his commitment to Wolves.

"The manager called me up and asked me a few questions the other day," Olofinjana said. "He just felt there were a few things wrong and he did ask the question about whether the African Nations was playing on my mind.

"But my answer was definitely not. I'm not thinking about it right now and, to be honest, if I had a choice over things I would rather be here helping Wolves to progress.

"We're building something here and the only reason I'm even playing in the African Nations is because I'm doing well here. There is no question of me pulling out of tackles because of a game in Africa in a month's time.

"Wolves are the primary focus. They are very, very important for me and the dip in my form has nothing to do with playing for Nigeria."

Olofinjana's form has dipped since his strong start to the season and he reckons tiredness could be to blame.

But he still remains hopeful of recapturing his best – and believes he saw signs of a return in the last half hour against Burnley.

"Right now I'm a little bit short," Olofinjana admitted. "I haven't been anywhere near the level I want to be recently but there were a few signs in the last half an hour against Burnley that I'm getting back to it.

"Why haven't I been playing well? I have no idea. I've played loads of games and only got two weeks off over the summer. The last game I played was on June 17 and things like that are starting to take their toll.

"The funny thing is it probably helped me at the start of the season because I started well, and I was a few weeks ahead of the other lads with my preparation. But it is having an effect on body now.

"But at the end of the day this is my job and my profession and it is up to me to do what I have to do to get back to it. I could probably do with a rest but this is no time for a rest with games coming thick and fast."

After suffering morale-sapping back-to-back defeats Wolves desperately need a result against struggling Rangers to reinvigorate a campaign that is in danger of running out of steam.

But they will have to overcome some more bad omens to get the three points. Key men Jody Craddock and Michael Kightly are both missing, and good performances have been in short supply in recent weeks.

"It's very, very important not just for us to win but for us to play well as well," said Olofinjana. "We need to get our confidence back up again because we've had two disappointing results in the last two weeks. And we need to get the supporters back on our side as well."