Injuries, errors and a poor January window have halted QPR’s play-off charge

A terrible two months for QPR ended in exactly the same way as it began – with a defeat by struggling Peterborough.

If the FA Cup loss to Posh was the stinging jab, Sunday’s 3-1 Championship loss was the haymaker which put the team down.

The boos that rang around the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium at full-time told the story of what was an awful afternoon.

On a day which had started so well, Luke Amos’ early opener had become a distant memory by the time supporters had sat through the worst second half of football they had seen for quite some time.

Peterborough were not that good. They didn’t have to be.

They were all over the place in the first half, misplacing passes in midfield and defence and presenting Rangers with opportunity after opportunity from their own doing.

“Goals change games,” R’s boss Mark Warburton said afterwards.

Yes, it could have been a very different afternoon had Andre Gray had headed in from Albert Adomah’s cross, or if Ilias Chair had taken one of his chances. But QPR got exactly what they deserved in the second half.

The team seems to have lost its clinical edge.

In the past 11 games, Warburton’s side have scored more than one goal just three times.

QPR should certainly have taken another of their chances in that first half and it would have been difficult to see Peterborough – a side which had not won for 15 league games – coming back from a 2-0 away deficit.

But despite creating more than they had in previous games, it was again clear to see that Rangers were not playing with the same level of confidence and attacking fearlessness evident earlier in the season.

Instead, they looked content with slower, safer and sideways passing while giving up possession of the ball too easily and making the Championship’s bottom team look dangerous.

Warburton acknowledged: “At 1-0 we should have been on the front foot and enjoying being a good team. That was so far below our best in that second half.”

Rangers never really looked like they were going to come back after going two goals down. Earlier in the season, you always believed this team could mount a comeback.

And they have not been able to shut out teams at the other end.

A defence consisting of an out-of-form Jimmy Dunne and Rob Dickie, and youngster Dion Sanderson in place of the previously ever-present Yoann Barbet, looked vulnerable right from the first whistle against Peterborough.

Sanderson’s woeful pass straight to Sammie Szmodics early on set the tone for an uneasy afternoon from the Wolves loanee, whose misplaced passes and unconvincing defending contributed to the team’s worst defeat of the season.

So often Peterborough found themselves with too much space on the breakaway, putting the back three under pressure and forcing them into uncomfortable situations.

QPR’s centre-backs struggled with being left one-versus-one against Peterborough’s attackers and it contributed to all three goals.

Sanderson let Jack Marriott work enough space for a shot which preceded Jonson Clarke-Harris’ opener, Dunne looked unsettled with Joe Ward running at him before tripping the winger and giving away a penalty, and Sanderson showing Marriott onto his stronger foot for Peterborough’s third was illogical.

But it was not solely the fault of the defence.

The whole team has to take responsibility and do a better job of preventing counter-attacks from exposing their weaknesses.

Injuries and questionable signings 

Injuries have merely compounded the team’s struggles of late.

Lee Wallace and Stefan Johansen have now been added to an already stacked list which also consists of four goalkeepers, star man Chris Willock and striker Lyndon Dykes.

Johansen has not been at his best of late but his ability to carve open teams with his forward passing and control possession was badly missed against Peterborough and would have made a difference. As would Willock’s confidence and attacking creativity – Rangers simply do not look like the same team without him.

The club are keen to ensure that they operate responsibly after past mistakes, but January was always going to prove an important month for their play-off push.

Instead of bolstering the attack, the team added goalkeeper David Marshall (a must, given the injury situation), another central defender in Sanderson and another central midfielder in Jeff Hendrick.

So far, none have provided the boost you would hope for from a January signing.

Marshall’s errors hampered the team before his injury, while Hendrick and Sanderson are yet to convince despite being given the game time to do so at the expense of others.

The decision to let Jordy de Wijs leave on loan, despite all of his injury problems, and bring in Sanderson, is certainly a difficult one to understand with hindsight.

The manager is always the one to bear the brunt of the criticism during a bad run. Warburton certainly has to take a fair share of the blame for the drop off in performance levels, and his efforts to change things through his team selections and substitutions of late have not paid off – like starting without a recognised striker and playing Willock out of position.

Not over yet

If this run carries on, it will be a hugely disappointing end to a season which promised so much. But calls from a few supporters to sack the manager seem premature to say the least.

After the final whistle of the defeat by Peterborough, the reaction from the players showed how devastating this loss was. Sam Field held his hands behind his head while others looked completely deflated as they left the pitch.

But this is not over yet – something Warburton has been keen to stress.

“We have to get back to basics quickly and not waste what is still a very good opportunity,” he said.

It will take a drastic turnaround in the final eight games for Rangers to get back into those play-off spots and, at this point, it certainly looks unlikely when you factor in recent form, the fixtures still remaining and how the teams around them are doing.

But the fact remains that QPR are still only two points outside the play-off spots. The international break has come at a good time.

Rangers are certainly up against it in the fight for the play-offs, but they’re not out just yet.