Steve McClaren admits Queens Park Rangers are under pressure to avoid relegation.

The dismal 2-1 defeat to Rotherham United on Wednesday night after Semi Ajayi’s stoppage-time goal for the visitors has left the club in 18th position with only 43 points.

And with only seven points separating the Rs from the drop zone, McLaren knows his team desperately need a result when they visit Hull on Saturday.

“We’re looking over our shoulder,” said McClaren, whose side have only secured one draw with Stoke City and one win against Leeds United in their last five matches.

“After Leeds we said let’s kick on and get them, but we haven’t – we’ve collected one point and we’ve been poor in terms of performance.

“We can see the 50 point mark, we need to get three wins very quick.”

QPR had scored just once in their last four Championship matches before finding the net against Rotherham and have struggled to score early as they have slipped down the table.

“We’ve talked about that in every game,” reflected McClaren. “There’s the same messages, the same game-plan, the same work preparation.

“But that’s football, that’s why it’s so unpredictable. We have too many performances at the present moment that are down, and they shouldn’t be after that Leeds game.”

McClaren also bemoaned his side’s luck during their downturn in form, highlighting a challenge on Pawel Wszolek which was missed by referee David Webb when the game was still 1-1.

“That was a definite free-kick and an opportunity to win the game, but in the end, it goes down the other end,” he said.

“We’re not getting that luck, but you’ve got to work hard to get that luck and that’s what we’ll have to do.”

McClaren believes a lack of experience and leadership due to injuries to key players, including Geoff Cameron and Angel Rangel, has also proved costly for the Rs this season.

“It’s been a typical Championship season, we’ve had lots of highs, good results, only two weeks ago, and we’ve had incredible lows,” he added.

“That’s part of a football season, it’s how you react and show character. Yeah, we do miss Geoff and we do miss Angel, but there should still be enough out there.

“There are no excuses, we’re responsible for that. We’ve got Geoff and Angel very close to coming back, I’m sure that will add to the experience and the leadership in the team.

“But in the meantime, we’ve got to go to Hull on Saturday and get a team that can get a result.”