Mark Warburton believes his QPR players got exactly what they deserved after returning to London pointless following a 1-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

His Rangers team were still only 13 minutes away from a draw, but Reda Khadra curled home a free-kick to decide the battle between the EFL Championship promotion chasers.

But Warburton admitted in his post-match interview with the club media that his team fell way short of their normal performance levels.

“But we didn't really have that cutting edge,” he said. “We looked a bit weary. Did we do enough to win the game? I don't think we did.

“We trained well and there was good camaraderie after Wednesday night (2-1 win over Blackpool), but today we didn't show the tempo required.

“We knew that Blackburn would press high. In the first half an hour, we struggled to string passes together and they could have scored on a couple of occasions through our own errors.

“Then, we got hold of the football and for a ten-minute spell, looked a good team with the way we moved the ball and created some chances.

“It was a poor free-kick (the winning goal) to give away in the first place. Their guy went down and we have to be better - with most challenges from behind now, you see players going down.

“A soft free-kick was given away and we got punished for that. That was more than frustrating.”

The Rs boss also had the added headache of a key player picking up an injury, with goalkeeper Seny Dieng leaving the field at half-time.

Warburton revealed that he had no choice but to withdraw Dieng, who also missed games during January due to African Cup of Nations duty, at the interval.

The Senegalese shot-stopper has been jostling of the goalkeeper slot with David Marshall in recent weeks but had looked to have won his place in the side back until his latest knock.

“He had a muscle injury,” Warburton explained. “He picked it up right at the end of the first half and couldn't carry on.

“He pulled off some excellent saves and wanted to carry on, but he couldn't - it's as simple as that.”

The QPR manager already had a trio of players missing the trip to Ewood Park after time in the treatment room.

But he is hopeful all three could return for the visit of Cardiff City next Saturday.

Warburton added: “Charlie's got a knock, Lyndon has too and Lee's had a bout of sickness.

“That's the demands of the Championship, it's hitting every team.

“Hopefully they're only three or four days away from returning.”