Chris Ramsey and Tim Sherwood must forget friendship for relegation showdown

Even now they find themselves rivalling each other in the battle to stay up, the QPR boss admits he gets in touch with his Aston Villa counterpart "every four or five days", and will do so again ahead of tomorrow night's crunch clash.

"Me, him and Les Ferdinand [the other member of their trinity at Tottenham] live probably 10 minutes from each other so sometimes there is a pint to be had," Ramsey said. "I'm sure we'll speak before the game, one way or another.

"It's great you can have two coaches who've gone through the system and are coaching in the Premier League."

Ramsey is adamant the man whom he was trusted lieutenant to at Tottenham last season will keep the Midlands club up this term.

"Tim will keep them up without a shadow of a doubt - he has players who have the wow factor and he knows how to manipulate them," said Ramsey, already the subject of speculation linking him with a summer reunion with Sherwood at Villa.

Yet Sherwood may not cut his usual relaxed figure when the call comes after a weekend in which those sides in the bottom three breathed new life into their survival hopes, while those just above the safety line toiled.

The margin of victory here at The Hawthorns, just four miles from Villa Park, was their biggest of the campaign.

Now comes the second instalment of their potentially season-saving rescue mission in the West Midlands in the space of little over 72 hours.

Villa's defeat at Manchester United leaves the contest perfectly poised, a win elevating QPR above their opponents.

It would be a nightmare scenario for Sherwood, virtually taking him full circle back to a similar scenario to when he started. The stakes could scarcely be higher and this will not be a tie for the faint hearted.

It was not just the result that will raise belief among the QPR camp, however. It was the display too. Sandro and Joey Barton were bullish and bright and, finally, their clinical finishing was not only down to Charlie Austin.

"It is a statement to win 4-1, even though I don't think it was a 4-1 game," Ramsey said. "People will look at it and think we have played a team notoriously difficult to get four goals against. Hopefully they are worrying about us.

"If results had gone against us on Saturday then the mountain looks a little bit bigger.

"Tuesday will be very important for both teams and we will be ready same as we were against West Brom. It's going right to the wire."

It proved to be a bittersweet afternoon for Eduardo Vargas who, after setting the tone with a 25-yard opener, soon saw his involvement prematurely ended by a knee injury.