QPR star Adel Taarabt is set to turn his back on the club’s relegation battle to represent Morocco at the Africa Cup of Nations in the New Year.

The Londoners have endured a tough start to the Premier League season, but appear to be finding some form under new manager Harry Redknapp.

Taarabt has been utilised to great effect since the shift, netting twice in the Loftus Road outfit’s 2-1 win over Fulham, their first of three-point haul of the campaign.

Redknapp has asked his controversial midfielder to choose club over country next month, but the 23-year-old appears to be keen on forcing his way back into Morocco coach Rachid Taoussi’s plans:

“I will do everything I can to prove to him (Taoussi) that I deserve to be there.” He is quoted by The Metro.

“He (Redknapp) came to see me to ask me not to go but I told him, if they call me, I can’t refuse, boss.

“I love my country, I love the Moroccan people and football means a lot to them.”

The playmaker went on to hail the impact Redknapp has had on the club and on him as an individual:

“He’s a peerless motivator. You believe you’re the best player in the world when he talks to you.

“When you go on the pitch you fear nothing. At the end of the match against Fulham, he came to me to say, “I told you that you were as good as Berbatov”.”