With victories, defeats and managerial sackings, it's been a hectic week for the clubs at the wrong end of the Premier League. Hannah Duncan looks at the recent  fortunes of QPR, Aston Villa and Reading ahead of another vitally important weekend of fixtures at the foot of the table...

Wonders will never cease...QPR finally won back-to-back games for the first time this season with their victory over Sunderland at the weekend.

But Harry Redknapp's side still have a long way to go if they are to harbour any hopes of avoiding the drop this year - starting with the small matter of a trip to  Aston Villa at the weekend. The relegation dogfight truly starts here.

Aston Villa are 2.32 favourites to beat QPR on Saturday while the Hoops are at 3.45 to claim a third straight victory.

Villa themselves had a vital win over Reading on Saturday to climb out of the bottom three, while the Royals gave Brian McDermott his matching orders on Monday. One  way or another, it's been quite a week at the foot of the Premier League.

And it has perhaps never been more important for a side to retain their top-flight status, with the new multi-billion pound television deal kicking in next season.

But for QPR, this weekend could be make or break for their Premier League hopes. Few teams at the bottom will pick up points against the top sides, so games against  relegation rivals really are the be-all and end-all.

And the Hoops have a few of those to come.

Next month, Rangers host Wigan and travel to Reading, while they also face games against Fulham and Stoke - all games where they'll feel there are points up for grabs.

The trip to Everton may have to be a write-off for Redknapp, but his players will need to accumulate as many points as possible throughout April, with May likely to  prove a trickier path to navigate. And it all starts this weekend.

There's no doubting QPR have improved under Redknapp's guidance and bringing in the likes of Loic Remy and Andros Townsend in January has provided a real boost to the  squad, both psychologically and in terms of quality.

The Hoops are no longer favourites for the drop, with Reading having slipped to 1.14, but Redknapp's side are still in among the candidates at 1.57.

But a win for Aston Villa - who are now fourth-favourites to be playing Championship football next season at 2.28 - on Saturday could drag the likes of Southampton and Sunderland back into contention depending on their results and could prove a massive boost to Villa's survival chances.

We've explored some of Villa's main problems before, but there can be no doubting that in a side so heavily reliant on youngsters, confidence is everything.

And as Christian Crowther suggested in his column last week their upcoming run of games, featuring Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea will feel a lot less  intimidating with two victories under their belts.

But whichever way you look at the relegation battle now, it seems almost certain one of the bottom three places will be occupied by Reading.

The Royals can be backed at 1.73 to finish rock bottom of the Premier League this term, with QPR at 4.5.

A situation which had looked so promising for Reading merely a few weeks ago has turned sour almost overnight and regardless of who the new manager is, he's unlikely  to have time to make any real difference to a squad whose confidence is surely at its lowest point of the season.