QPR boss Mark Warburton hailed returning centre-back Rob Dickie after his starring role in the last-gasp 1-0 win at Derby on Wednesday night.

Dickie missed Saturday’s victory over Cardiff through suspension but returned to help his side keep a clean sheet at Pride Park as well as setting up Macauley Bonne’s 88th-minute winner with an inch-perfect cross.

“Rob was very good,” Warburton said.

“You saw his quality individually and you saw his partnership with Yoann Barbet, and the backline standing up.

“It was a team that fought really hard. Collectively it was a good performance and it’s an important three points for us.”

Bonne’s bullet header was his third goal for Rangers since his summer move from Charlton and ensured the R’s picked up consecutive victories for the first time this season.

The three points, which took the visitors up to 16th, were particularly crucial against another side who have had a slow start to the campaign and Warburton was delighted after his troops' late show.

“It’s a great time to score a goal, that’s for sure,” Warburton said. “But I thought we were very good in the first half.

“We had two big chances that we didn’t take and in the second half we were sloppy and untidy with the ball, and Derby came back into the game.

“Derby obviously wanted to get the three points at home and they were pushing people forward and there were gaps in behind them.

“We felt if we could transition quickly and play the ball forward quickly we would be in, and we did that. It was late in the game, but we did it.”

The games keep coming thick and fast for Warburton’s men, who will look to make it three wins in a week when they travel to the side directly beneath them in the table, Blackburn, on Saturday.

Rangers have not won at Ewood Park since 1999 and Warburton admitted he will have to freshen up his starting XI to keep everyone fit and firing amid a busy run of fixtures.

“We have a squad with depth and we have young players who are keen to impress,” he said.

“We will make a few changes on Saturday to keep it fresh because it is an important game for us, that’s for sure.

“We will get back in the early hours of Thursday, have a little bit of rest and then travel again on Friday.

“We know what we have to do, all the teams face the same challenges. We will rest well, analyse this game and then move on very quickly to Saturday.”