Boss Mark Warburton has called on his QPR charges to rediscover their winning form and avoid slipping into a relegation battle, ahead of their weekend trip to a rejuvenated Bristol City side.
The Rs established themselves as one of the Championship’s hottest teams at the turn of the new year, winning six out of seven matches - and three in a row at home - to rapidly climb the ranks towards the top six.
But a midweek 3-1 defeat at home to Barnsley marked their third game on the bounce without victory, leaving them 17th in the table and only eight points in front of 22nd-placed Rotherham with 14 games to go.
Warburton emphasised the need to wipe the slate clean following Wednesday night’s disappointment, and he is hopeful the west-Londoners can get back on track in Saturday’s 3pm clash.
“We paid the price for sloppy defending and not getting our rewards at the other end against Barnsley,” said Warburton, 58. “I was disappointed because we lost at home - it’s as simple as that.
“It’s all about the next game now, though. That’s all it can be about, and I am sure any other manager or coach would tell you the same.”
🗣 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿.
— QPR FC (@QPR) March 5, 2021
Mark Warburton speaks ahead of #QPR’s trip to face Bristol City this weekend.#BRCQPR pic.twitter.com/VYiRMGO9Ah
Despite sitting just five places and five points ahead of Rangers in the table, City have been somewhat transformed since the arrival of Nigel Pearson as manager in February, winning two of three games under the tutelage of the former Leicester boss.
While acknowledging the challenge posed by a trip to the West Country, Warburton explained alterations could be made to his team after he made three changes to the XI against Barnsley.
He added: “Nigel is a very experienced manager and he’s come in and moved them to a 4-1-4-1 or a 4-5-1 formation.
“They have very good players and a very good squad, and we know Nigel will have them very well organised. It is going to be another very tough test, plain and simple.
“We’ll have to see how the players report before any final decisions are made about who is going to play. Having played on Wednesday we will need to see how they are.”
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