QPR slide to sorry defeat as Blackburn make the most of their new international boss

W12 offering for today

Championship

QPR (1) 1 Saito 35

Blackburn Rovers (2) 3 Jorgensen 21, 39, Morishita 50

The Hoops missed the chance to edge closer to the coveted top six places as they fell to a disappointing home defeat to a Blackburn side who started the day in the bottom three.

Having defeated long-time Championship league leaders Coventry City in their previous outing at Loftus Road, hopes were high that Julien Stephan's men could ride the wave and keep the momentum going - but they failed to make the most of a bright start and lost their way.

In the end the visitors inflicted a sixth home defeat of the season on the R's - a statistic which undermines their ambitions.

QPR must have hoped that ailing Blackburn would prove easy pickings but Rovers were hoping the presence of Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neil in the dugout would inspire a change of fortune, and so it proved.

He has taken on the job of boss at Ewood Park in combination with his work on the international front and was notionally just an observer today, but he was far from being an idle spectator in the stands. Sitting alongside caretaker boss Damien Johnson he was heavily involved from the off and there was no doubt about who was in charge.

The R's are not far off the sixth play-off spot and looking for a run of results that can make their case a bit more persuasive and they started brightly enough, with Richard Kone threatening to slip in behind the last defenders and Koki Saito almost profiting from Nicolas Madsen's quickly taken free kick.

But it was Rovers who led against the run of play when the tireless Ryoya Morishita's well-angled ball in from the right flank fell perfectly for Mathias Jorgensen to tuck home past Joe Walsh.

It was almost two when Andri Gudjohnsen reached a bouncing ball in the area just ahead of Walsh but could not get a shot away before being seemingly brought down by the Rangers keeper. Ref Stephen Martin determined that there was no foul but the visitors were convinced they should have had a penalty.

The R's kept at it though and drew level when Saito was given time to turn onto a pass into the box from Isaac Hayden and arrow a shot into the top corner.

But the scorer turned from hero to villain soon after when he was dispossessed in midfield by Sondre Tronstad and a ball through the middle gave Jorgensen a run on goal that he made count - clipping the ball neatly past the advancing Walsh.

Rovers were in the box seat and they were not about to cede control and they increased their lead at the start of the second half in front of their ecstatic fans at the School End as Tronstad - again the provider - curled in a cross from the right that was headed home by an unmarked Morishita.

If home fans hoped it would ignite a big response, they were sorely disappointed. It was not until the very end - and 11 minutes of injury time - that they put Rovers under any sort of pressure. They came close when Saito had a close-range effort blocked on the line, but there was not nearly enough to discomfort the increasingly confident away side.

You read up on Julien Stephan's views about the game here

Hoops: (4-2-3-1) Walsh - Edwards, Dunne, Cook (Kolli 69), Rhys Norrington-Davies (Esquerdinha 79) - Madsen (Smyth 69), Hayden (Morgan 79) - Bennie (Mbengue 69), Vale, Saito - Kone

Rovers:(4-2-3-1) Toth - Alebiosu, McLughlin, Carter, Cashin - Baradji (Montgomer 90), Tronstad - Afolayan (Miller h/t) (Pickering 54), Jorgensen, Morishita (Forshaw 90) - Gudjohnsen (Oshashi 74)