QPR boss John Eustace insists Monday night’s clash with former club Derby County holds no extra weight as he hopes to secure Rangers’ status in the Championship next season with a win.

The interim manager, who made 57 appearances for Derby towards the end of his career, oversaw a 2-1 defeat to Blackburn on Friday which left the R’s eight points clear of the relegation zone.

And despite the sizeable gap between themselves and Rotherham with just three games to go, Eustace is leaving nothing to chance.

“Rotherham can easily go and win those three games, no problems at all,” the 39-year-old said.

“The most important thing we're focusing on now is Monday, and that's all I'm focusing on as well.

“It’s just another game for me. It’s important that we prepare properly, that we rest up tomorrow and we know that we are still in a fight. It’s a game that we’ll be ready for.”

QPR will travel to Pride Park with an injury hit-squad, as the likes of Jake Bidwell and Grant Hall remain out of contention for Monday.

And Eustace admits the disruption to the squad is having adverse effects.

He added: “We're down to the bare bones now. Obviously it's a different back four from last week but it's certainly not an excuse – we still weren't good enough.

“The boys who played, they all want to play, so it's up to them when they put the shirt on to play well.”

Two positives remain for the R’s, however - some intriguing youth prospects and the form of striker Matt Smith.

On the latter - who scored in Friday’s defeat - Eustace said: “He's been playing great. It was tough to leave him out against Swansea, because he's played well as Millwall, and he's come on and scored another goal.

“He's a very dangerous striker at this level and it was tough to leave him out, but I'm glad he came on and scored.”

But despite youngster Lewis Walker seeing some minutes off the bench, the R’s boss is being cautious about playing the kids until his side are in the clear.

“I think the club would like to play them, and I certainly would as well, but we're not in that situation at the moment,” he said.

“We've got a really big game away at Derby now and it's important that we're competitive, that we show up and take it from there.”