Matt Phillips netted in the 88th minute to hand QPR a 1-0 victory over the Blues at Loftus Road. But for an excellent goalkeeping display from Bartosz Bialkowski Town would have been behind at half-time, but the second period was a more even affair in which both teams had chances and Phillips headed home late on to claim the three points.

Mick McCarthy handed Luke Varney his first league start since May alongside Brett Pitman, the duo having combined to created Town’s late winner against Reading on Tuesday.

Daryl Murphy and Ainsley Maitland-Niles dropped to the bench, while Luke Hyam missed out with a calf injury and was replaced in central midfield by Kevin Bru.

For QPR, who included former Blues loanee Massimo Luongo from the start, full debutant Conor Washington came in for the sold Leroy Fer in an otherwise unchanged team.

The game started in a blustery wind and with Town in their Barcelona-style second strip for only the second time.

Blues keeper Bialkowski was forced in a double save inside the first 35 seconds. Phillips escaped down the right and hit a powerful shot from a tight angle which the Polish keeper pushed away from goal. The loose ball fell to Luongo but Bialkowski was there again to deny the Australian.

Bru picked up his third booking of the season for a foul on Alejandro Faurlin in the eighth minute with the early stages of the match having been hampered by the swirling wind and a number of stoppages for injuries.

There was a scare for Town in the 13th minute when Jonas Knudsen allowed himself to be robbed by Phillips, who took the ball into the area on the QPR right before Christophe Berra got across to dispossess him.

Rangers continued to have the better of it and on 16 Washington cut the ball back to Sebastian Polter from the left but Berra got in the way of his effort at goal.

The Blues again had Bialkowski to thank for keeping the scores level in the 19th minute when Phillips sent over a cross from the right which reached an unmarked Junior Hoilett at the far post. The Town keeper came off his line quickly to block and Sears did enough to prevent Polter from getting in a subsequent strike.

On 21 a long wind-assisted Knudsen throw down the left beat Nedim Onuoha and reached Pitman, who slid in to cut the ball across the box but with none of his team-mates there to add the final touch.

Two minutes later, Bialkowski batted away a Hoilett shot from 25 yards, then on 28 the Canadian international cut in from the left and hit a shot to the keeper’s right that he got down to save and then claim at the second attempt.

Faurlin joined Bru in referee Charles Breakspear’s book in the 33rd minute for diving in somewhat recklessly on Sears, angering the Town players who surrounded the official.

Five minutes later, Bru gifted the ball to Hoilett, who just failed to thread Polter in on the right of the area.

As the half moved into its final five minutes the lively former Blackburn Rovers man curled another strike just beyond the top corner of Bialkowski’s goal from the right.

Pitman struck Town’s first shot on goal of the game four minutes before the break from the edge of the box but keeper Alex Smithies was untroubled.

Phillips again got away from Knudsen in the 43rd minute and crossed low to James Perch, who turned it past Bialkowski’s left post.

A minute later, an interchange of passes on the right ended with Hoilett curling a shot past the opposite post.

Town will have been much the happier to have gone in with the scoreline still 0-0 at the break with QPR having been on top throughout and having had all the game’s chances.

But for a number of impressive stops from Bialkowski and some important blocks and interceptions from Berra, the Blues could have found themselves well behind at half-time.

Town had struggled to gain control in midfield and had shown little going forward with the wind perhaps having favoured the home side during the first half, while Murphy’s physical presence had been missed up front.

The Blues remained unchanged after the break and started the second half brightly, Fraser sending over a cross from the left but beyond Varney and Pitman. Town continued to threaten in the opening minutes, Pitman heading to Smithies following a corner on the right.

But the home side began to get back on top and on 52 Faurlin wafted a pass towards Phillips into the area which held up in the wind and Bialkowski claimed.

Three minutes later, Berra did well to get ahead of Polter to nod a cross from the left wide, then soon after Smith cut out a ball in from the right.

Town switched Varney and Cole Skuse - who had appeared to be carrying an injury - for Murphy and Giles Coke, who was a youth player with QPR.

Murphy immediately won a ball in the air which led to a chance, Fraser hitting a low ball across the six-yard box which no one was able to reach.

Soon after, QPR swapped Faurlin for Daniel Tozser, then Onuoha was booked for a foul on Sears.

On 63 Coke played in Fraser on the right of the area but Grant Hall saw the ball out of play, then three minutes later Murphy cushion down to Bru, who fed the Scotland U21 international but his effort failed to test Smithies.

The Blues were in the game more than they were in the first half, however, even if the home side were still having more of the chances.

In the 69th minute Berra did superbly to get across in front of Washington after Paul Konchesky had whipped in a cross from the left. Moments later, the recent signing from Peterborough twisted and turned on the edge of the box before shooting over.

Hoilett was replaced by Jamie Mackie ion 70, having suffered an earlier knock when challenged by Coke.

The Blues midfielder underwent lengthy treatment himself in the 74th minute after going down off the ball but eventually continued.

As the game moved into its final 15 minutes Fraser charged down a Smithies kick but the ball flew out.

Pitman headed weakly past Smithies’s left post, then at the other end Bialkowski saved a low Luongo shot from distance comfortably.

Town twice went close to grabbing the lead with 10 minutes left on the clock. A long Knudsen throw-in from the left was flicked on and eventually found Pitman, who stabbed towards goal. Smithies saved and Sears got to the loose ball but the keeper was able to grab hold of the ball.

With eight minutes remaining Bru sent over a corner from the right and Pitman hit a volley which Tozser blocked.

The Blues had begun to look more threatening in the final minutes but with two minutes remaining the home side grabbed the lead.

Sub Abdenasser El Khayati showed some clever footwork on the right before crossing to the unmarked Phillips, who headed into the roof of the net from eight yards.

The Town players protested about a Polter handball earlier in the move, but to no avail.

Pitman looked to get the Blues back on terms immediately, but shot weakly through to Smithies, then Bialkowski pushed away a powerful Tozser strike.

The Blues continued to press in injury time, Knudsen sending over a low cross which Sears diverted to Smithies, then QPR eventually managed to clear a scramble in the box in which Smith saw an overhead kick blocked and Sears had another shot saved by Smithies.

In the closing moments Fraser pulled up short with a hamstring injury and Larsen Touré briefly took over.

Soon after, referee Breakspear’s final whistle confirmed the Blues’ second last-gasp defeat in their last two visits to Loftus Road.

Having been very much second best in the first half, after the break the game had been more even with both sides having chances, the majority of Town's late on.

But it was QPR - defeated 2-1 in the final minute at Portman Road on Boxing Day - who took one of their chances to claim their first home win since November 28th, their first at Loftus Road under Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and only the second victory of the Dutchman's time in charge.

Town, who travel to Bristol City next Saturday, drop to seventh, two points behind Sheffield Wednesday, who came from behind to win 2-1 at Birmingham, who are now eighth.

QPR: Smithies, Perch, Hall, Onouha (c), Konchesky, Faurlin (Tozser 59), Luongo, Hoilett (Mackie 70), Phillips, Washington (El Khayati 81), Polter. Unused: Ingram, Angella, Chery, Petresso.

Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Smith, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse (Coke 58), Bru, Fraser (Touré 9), Sears, Varney (Murphy 58), Pitman. Unused: Henly, Foley, Digby, Maitland-Niles. Referee: Charles Breakspear (Surrey). Att: 17,044 (Town: 3,188).

Photo: Action Images

runningout added 22:17 - Feb 6 winnable game mucked up... we are so boring to say the least, and as sharp as a marshmallow
3

dirtydingusmagee added 22:19 - Feb 6 mickszzztactics, wtf are you on ,Mogadon ?
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surgery added 22:31 - Feb 6 As much as I hate the Dark Lord for for all that he did to our club, credit where it's due, he was a great footballer. Can you imagine how he must have felt being "coached" by this person? No wonder he rebbeled
6

Pilgrimblue added 22:49 - Feb 6 After MM dressing down fans lack of support I hope he wll put the record straight after such an amazing turn out. Lets not forget that MM/TC only came to save Town from relegation. sadly ME got carried away and we're stuck with them for another 2 years!! Come back Magic
4

blueherts added 22:57 - Feb 6 The really sad thing is our owner obviously sees this as real progress , why else would he 'reward' MM and TC with longer contract , I think MM is slowly losing the plot I have supported him in last few seasons and yes he has performed miracles on a shoestring but it is not sustainable . Do we want promotion ? I presume yes and if so Coke Digby Toure are not gonna get us over the line WE need some more quality in the squad and this is where I disagree with MM , no money? Well enough to reward MM in the transfer window but not for players No logic

10

Toronto_Tractor added 22:59 - Feb 6 A club on our budget will be relegated without McCarthy. That's realism.
1

BrettenhamBlue added 23:08 - Feb 6 Positives Superb display by Bart. Footballing at its very finest. Go as far as to say an amazing display. He should feel proud and rightly so. Sears and Fraser were very positive and did their best considering the horrendous hoofballs. Pittman had a solid game and can hold his head high. Varney had a reasonably good game and deserved his start given his previous sub appearances. Not so positive Skuse and Bru didn't win the midfield battle. It was like two light heavy weights versus two heavy weights. When Skuse came off he was replaced by a feather weight and our lack of control in the centre was insane. I don't want to say anything more about Coke. He's appeared many times for our team now and the only statistical correlation we have is that we have lost every game he's been in.At 88 mins he must have been thinking "oh my God, we haven't lost again...oh, whoops...I missed my marker yet again and it's in the back of the net....". Pittman is a footballer and struggles with hoofball. Defence was reasonable for first 60 mins...but after that lacked so little support from the midfield that it was over run. WE NEEDED TO BRING IN DECENT BACK UP!! Even my Grandma could be on our subs bench at the moment.

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BrettenhamBlue added 23:16 - Feb 6 Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope we have the East Anglian Derby again next season. I don't honestly think we will make the top 6. We are punching well above our weight.
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MicksZzzTactics added 23:20 - Feb 6 To dirtydingusmagee: ??? "Psilocybe Semilanceata", "Stropharia Rugosoannulata" or special Termitomyces to be exact. The latter specially imported from an old friend & colleague of mine in beloved Anjuna Beacch, Goa. If you MUST know! :-) But why are you asking exactly??? Did I touch too many 'sore spots' (and undebunkable current 'facts'/aspects) on and about Mick as Manager, for your personal liking??? :-) Well basically the 1st part of my original post was just my personal very shortish take on a match-report from today but most of all it was simply a counter to Mick's latest piece of porkies i.e that it was ALL the weather and conditions fault that ITFC for the umpteenth time under him as manager played absolutely dreadfully and created next to nothing offensively for the vast majority of a professional football game .......... And the 2nd part of my original post was more or less just an open reply to one of the self-proclaimed 'headmasters' of this here lovely "objective"and dissent-tolerating TWTD site ... namely Mullet ... who once again claimed as recently as on the "No Point in Making Signings Just for the Sake of It" pages that Mick is "The best manager in the league" .... and who btw is special notorious for writing far far lengthier (and thus to some much more "boring"!) post -- more like novellas actually!!! -- especially on the forum pages. lol :-)

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MVBlue added 23:35 - Feb 6 Some wierd characters on this board. Most of them roll out after a defeat, with no breakdown of the game but straight common negativity. Yes these are hard times, but we hope to progress.
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SpiritOfJohn added 23:45 - Feb 6 After the second string failed in two attempts to beat Portsmouth, one expected some reinforcements to arrive within the transfer window. When they failed to materialise we had all of our eggs in one basket with only the first 15 or so players being good enough to mount a serious challenge. Now that some of these 15 are cracked or broken those with control of the purse strings are left with egg on face. The players' effort and commitment cannot be faulted but playing ugly football is only acceptable if the team is winning. Top loan signings required ASAP.

5

BtreeBlueBlood added 23:56 - Feb 6 Yes we have got a great competitive first 11! Oh yeah our best player is a loanee After that we have a bench that can plug a gap for 30mins. Our players seem very brittle , mcG winter illness (3yrs running) bishop and hyam frazer and ever present skuse means we are stuffed. ME should of looked at getting in players who's value will hold especially if we didn't make it or Rhodes £9 m now and in 6months time The dilemma We can't keep shopping In the 99p shop and FFP is worthless - but ME could just cut his losses.

2

Toronto_Tractor added 00:09 - Feb 7 Why don't we get rid of the manager, the coaches, The loan players, the permanent players, the Physio, the stewards, the stadium, twtd, our Wikipedia page and any lingering merchandise. That'll probably improve a few peoples moods. Can't we all just be disappointed at the defeat without having to get overly emotional? A new manager will not turn skuse, hyam, coke, bru etc into superstars. Basically, it's annoying that we don't have money to spend. Does anyone actually believe that if MM is offered good players he is turning them down? If so, you are on a very special level of delusion. If there was Money (which apparently there isn't) I'm sure he'd love to be able to compete with some of the big boys. One quite amusing recurring theme is that MM doesn't actually want to get promoted.. Which is of course as laughable as it is ridiculous. ME has invested previously and it had until recently forgiven him for not chucking more money away. However, I think it's feasible that a marque signing in the middle of the park may have been enough for us this year. Last year was last year. This year, a different approach would have been logical. I'm frustrated with the situation too... It just feels that we are that close that with just a bit of help we could actually do it, but in reality we won't be getting promoted this season. Who's fault is it? I don't bloody know. Not mine. I made one game this season and we beat burnley ;-)

6

algarvefan added 00:53 - Feb 7 Saw Ben Morris for the England Under 17-s yesterday in Portugal, bloody good lad, worked like a trojan and some quality touches. Players like him should be on the bench, not old duffers and freebies.... start building from our own academy. There is no money coming in so, lets at least start building for the future, using our own.
12

StochesStotasBlewe added 00:57 - Feb 7 MVBlue, we wont progress, we,re not good enough, players poorly coached, cheap & cheerful recruitment, a manager who appears to be stuck tactically in the dark ages, an owner who seems disinterested in progress, f##k all entertainment, etc, etc, etc. Blueboy often sums it up perfectly, too many are happy with any old crap dished up & never question anything, well, a fair amount of us expect & want a lot more than this sleep inducing sh#te that masquerades as football for our once proud & revered club.

6

blue24 added 01:14 - Feb 7 MicksZzzTatics what a complete •••• you are!
-5

GiveusaWave added 06:55 - Feb 7 MicksZZZtactics: please comment when we win also. Not just when we lose. Coke did complete one pass......better than nothing. Can't understand why we don't have McDonnell, Morris, Dozzell on the bench though. Frankly makes no sense. Even MM can clearly see Coke is much closer to Sunday League than Championship football. blue boy has summed it all up for me.
2

essex57 added 07:41 - Feb 7 Toronto tractor possibly one of the best posts this season The Real World. On another note I've read a lot of criticism of Bru a few weeks ago when he was on the bench he was the saviour over Douglas Blah Blah Blah. Welcome to the real world sometimes it's good sometimes it sucks.
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battyblue added 07:43 - Feb 7 A few of the In Mick We Trust Brigade (are there really any left now?) state that the non believers only post negatives well i would really love to post a page full of positives but i am sorry to say i have only one sorry two regarding the game at QPR yesterday 1. Brilliant Bart and long may he stay in the place he has always deserved as our best keeper at the club,and 2 our away support are all brilliant as well to pay to support our team through thick and thin in the hope that one day things may change for the better well done.

11

Keaneish added 07:59 - Feb 7 Will people please stop using budget as an excuse, it's ridiculous. Credit to MM, he's assembled a relatively good squad on no money that are more than capable. They would be infinitely better and much improved if they were coached to play football with the ball on the deck with some tactical nouse. Skuse would be a player in mind who would be unrecognisable from his woeful performance yesterday. I am convinced that a manager could come in and get a lot more out of this side. They are not playing at full potential, no way near. First people use league position to defend MM's stoicism and now that's faltering they point to his budget. I'm almost inclined to think he's using this as defensive shield now. We're unstuck and we've spurned the January transfer window to improve it. It's probably easy to read a post after a defeat and label it as a moan or a whinge. The reality is, there is some real substance on this board this time around from a lot of people who went yesterday and we're all saying the same thing. Like it or not, it's pretty accurate and very grim reading.

11

grumpyblue1966 added 08:48 - Feb 7 Sorry but we will not get in top 6 as marcus evens will not spend money only loans /frees/. the sooner he is gone the better he has destroyed our club. Cannot see us getting to premiership anytime in the coming years.
4

neil1968 added 08:49 - Feb 7 We are just crap or at least made to look that way using 70's tactics . Time for new management . Getting bored hearing the in Mick We Trust rubbish . Truth is majority of fans don't trust him anymore .
5

GoldieBlue added 08:50 - Feb 7 Still can't believe we played Knudsen over Parr, and essentially drove him away. Remember thinking after the first few games Knudsen looks a decent player, seems to have backwards over the season.
6

GoldieBlue added 09:05 - Feb 7 Getting so fed up with this approach to the game. Play for a draw, and if we pinch a goal it's a bonus. Just wonder how different it could have been if Bart didn't make that great save in the first minute, would we have come out and attacked like we did in the last 5. We only ever play our best football when we're losing and therefore have nothing to lose, which is why we never win by more than 1.

6

Stato added 09:07 - Feb 7 Well done Bart but in the summer we need a goalkeeper, a left back, a right back, a goal scoring midfielder and some competition for places.
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