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

dirtydingusmagee added 09:12 - Feb 7 one day the penny will drop and some people who think we should be in the Prem will realise under present set up it is unlikely to happen and in the event we did gain promotion we could not honestly expect to stay their,those heady days are long gone.We dont have enough clout under M E .Norwich have always had bigger fan base ,have no debts now but are and will struggle to stay up.Football has been shooting itself in the foot for a long time,MONEY is the name of the game now.Im not knocking people for hoping but we must be realistic and accept that a decent Championship team is about as much as we can expect .coyb

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essex57 added 09:28 - Feb 7 Micksszzzz I take it you weren't at the game yesterday.
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Keaneish added 09:46 - Feb 7 Another point. I can't believe how easy we made it for Hasslbaink yesterday. Other than Sears and Fraser we offered no threat and he recognised that by never really pushing Perch or Konchesky on, which made it difficult for Fraser and Sears to make any headway with ridiculous balls into channels. With Hoillet and Phillips pace, Sears and Fraser spent more time tracking back in our half than they did attacking in theirs. If Faurlin was going to drop deep to stretch the gap between Bru and Skuse to let Luongo do some damage, why did Pitman in the number 10 role not counter act this by making Faurlin work harder. Time and time again he could pick a pass to a free Luongo whose movement was great. If Polter was going to drop and Skuse sit deeper to nullifying the threat, why were Sears and Fraser not tucked in to give Bru any kind of chance? And most importantly of all, when we should really have switched to a 451 / 433 at half time and brought another midfielder into the mix, we only had Coke. As Skuse was carrying a knock we had no option and couldn't exercise a better system so stuck with a really rigid, static plan. This is all pretty basic stuff right. Beggars belief.

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essex57 added 09:59 - Feb 7 Why is it that all those that live in the fantasy land of if we purchased such and such a player changed the manager play this tactic play that tactic play so and so in this position or that position get a new owner vilify those fans that are satisfied with what we've got and happy when we win only seem to post when we lose contentment is a lovely thing dare I say some of you should search for it.

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BanksterDebtSlave added 10:36 - Feb 7 I think it would be fair to say that we see what we want to confirm our views. An example of this is Bart's performance yesterday. At least 3 of his saves were pushed into the danger zone rather than to safety and only by luck not judgement did the ball not land at the foot of a striker. If Gerken had made these saves and goals scored we would all have heard how crap he is. Just saying as results can come down to fine margins and a slice of luck! Just for the record, overall I think Bart is the slightly better keeper but I hate how supporters on here can be so keen to get on a player's back.......Smith last year. SUPPORT the team!

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htb added 11:16 - Feb 7 Toronto Tractor whilst your post is reasonable it is also key you have had the misfortune of only having been to one game this year, Burnley, one of our better performances. The real problem is for those who have to endure watching the type of football MM produces week in week out. For some this is ok as long as we get a few results. For me it is terribly depressing and not what I would wish to see from my club. Whilst I do believe the owner seems now to lack ambition the main problem is the out of date one dimensional tactics offered by the manager, truly ugly. A far better time to support the team from afar than actually in person I think!

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MVBlue added 11:40 - Feb 7 Htb this is the hardest point, the poor performances, but are there not bright spots like the Leeds game? The hard issue to graple is do we want to be Reading in mid-table or Ipswich in 6th in May?
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Keaneish added 12:21 - Feb 7 Essex57 - you can't seriously be content with that performance yesterday? Banksterdebtslave - agree with you about the shot Bart parried in the first 60 seconds but luckily he made amends. Other than that though, he was clearly our best player yesterday.
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essex57 added 12:27 - Feb 7 Bankster whilst I agree wholeheartedly with you what you must understand is that a dozen or so posters on here would never be satisfied if we went up they would be straight on the back of the manager because we weren't in the champions league qualifying positions a spending zillions to show our ambition.
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essex57 added 12:34 - Feb 7 Keaneish not particularly content but not at all upset, there's another game next week perhaps if we were scrapping for survival I might be upset there's only 3 teams that can go up hopefully us if not let's see what next year brings.
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cornishblu added 13:57 - Feb 7 Only just seen the highlights so can't pretend to know all about the game....what did strike me though was the winning goal yet again came from our right hand side where are central defender (sorry Mick ...our excellent right back) was in the centre of defence not marking his man......I absolutely hate having a pop at Luke....I still believe he is at right back for this for the manager not because it is his best position .....but once again no proper right back we get punished.....Mick if you seriously believe that there are no better right backs that we could afford with the money you got from mings then you have to take a long look at yourself ......patience can't get any thinner ......you are definetly the wenger of the championship ....recognised that you have achieved some really great things for the club but in order to push it on further you have to stop being so self absorbed and arrogant ....you are not always right .....previous history tells you that ...that's why previous cliques sacked you ....do we want to sack you No but part of that is stop being so stubborn and look at what is in front of you COYB

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essex57 added 15:35 - Feb 7 Today is Sunday Prebsa and blueboy not even you can disagree with that!!!!!
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blueboy1981 added 16:31 - Feb 7 ....... rich coming from you Essex57 - as per your post minus marks, it appears that it's actually YOU who disagrees with most people. But we all know it's in your nature - therefore expect nothing else from you (or your small band of 'happy chappies' ). Just keep being happy, and accept all, and everything - easy life hey ?
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Seasider added 16:34 - Feb 7 I feel that often at a match,especially from behind the goal you cannot get a full perspective of a match.Mick cant standing at pitch level but trust he looks at full match recording later.I don't always have that option;but always see 10/15 min highlights. Yesterdays match immediate opinion:- Back to hoofball,hitting it in channels,hardly ever on ground or stringing more than 3 passes together.No surprise that worst passing side in Championship(62.5% success rate) Over run in midfield,not surprising with only two in there.Needed somebody like Luongo who McCarthy got rid of 9 days after her arrived! QPR played like they were near top of table,and we looked like a team struggling near bottom.I am surprised that Ipswich are so high in table quite frankly,as football appalling. Looked like had come for a point;but that could be because opposition far superior,tactically,individually and with a positive attitude.(Think we only had one shot in 1st half) Only seemed to step up a gear when went behind,to try and get a draw. After watching highlights feel that Chambers was too far off his man who had free header for goal,and Pitman should have done better with one shot,and Murphy should have slid in on Frasers low cross instead of moaning at him for hitting too hard. Other points from posters comments:- Essex 57.Surely considering windy conditions better to keep ball on ground? Dirtydingusmagee.You are happy presumably for Town to remain in Championship indefinitely?What a negative attitude. Bournemouth nearly went out of League 2 six years ago,and have a ground only 1/3 size of PR.Watford are also a 'smaller'club,who like Bournemouth have never won anything. BanksterDebtSlave-Fancy criticising Bart who was MOM,and described by our esteemed manager as being world class(for this game anyway) Cornish Blue-describing Mickmac as the Wenger of the Championship,wish he set his teams up to play like Arsne then lol !!! Don't think the Arsenal Manager would be very flattered. Conclusion:-Feel that team is playing worse now than year ago when we were 5th,and with injuries piling up,unless MM makes at least 1 marque signing in Loan window,preferably 2;then it will be very difficult to maintain existing position let alone improve on it.

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essex57 added 16:55 - Feb 7 Blue boy bit rich you obviously only check the agrees disagrees for your own posts as I vote for as many agrees as disagree I'm sure that you and your merry band down vote anything I post out of habit your choice I suppose
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essex57 added 17:02 - Feb 7 Let's look at the stats accurate passes home 55 away 54 Shots on target home 8 away 7 Possession home 46% away 54% Total passes home 311 away 367 Not the stats that would say we were rubbish I said earlier the first 20 minutes QPR dominated after that it was anybodies game Draw fair to lose unjust.
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essex57 added 17:09 - Feb 7 I only disagree with half a dozen people generally the 5 that down voted my post about fantasy land.
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Keaneish added 18:16 - Feb 7 Losing to QPR was never unjust Essex57. How can you say that? It was deserved and we never deserved a point either. If we hadn't rallied in injury time the shots on goal count would have been a lot worse too. Im not trying to be a doom and gloom merchant, I'll always give credit when it's deserved but it was inept at best. I saw Mick said that 'he felt we'd go on to win the game'. Absolute farcical statement (one of many recent ones from Mick) but people who weren't there will buy that PR blag and think we were unlucky.

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essex57 added 19:08 - Feb 7 Well I was there "I don't give a flying one" what you or McCarthy say to win would of been unfair to lose was unjust if our team/performance was as bad as you make out we did well to hold out for 88 minutes. I feel it's pointless to try and make reasoned argument on the news site so I shall jog off and leave you to it have fun.
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Keaneish added 19:22 - Feb 7 There is no reasoned argument to have. They battered us first half and shaded it second half. That doesn't in anyway constitute deserving a point. That's not a view, it's a fact. If you think holding out for 88 mins is a measure of success then your expectations fall very short of mine. The only reason QPR hadn't scored prior to that was due to poor luck, Bart and some weak finishing. It had nothing to do with our overall team's ability on the day. On to the next game. I shudder the thought...

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blueboy1981 added 20:31 - Feb 7 essex57 ........ GOOD. Be happy.
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BanksterDebtSlave added 20:40 - Feb 7 Essex 57 ....Sunday comment absolutely priceless, Blueboy 1981 does like a vote doesn't he. Seasider, I wasn't criticising Bart just people that see what they want to fit their view....oh and the cross for their goal was a miss-hit shot! Small margins.
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prebsa added 20:58 - Feb 7 Well done essex57 your mother must be so proud that you can tell the days of the week! But your post says it all. "Let's see what happens next year" You too like ME have no ambition to go up and too blindly believe that this team are good enough. I take nothing away from the mirical Mick has performed to get us where we are but it is time to wake up and realise that this is as far as we will get without a little investment. Me and the others are not shouting for the spending of Derby just perhaps 2 or 3 spent in the right areas to give us the final push. Keaneish makes some great points but you just blindly mark them down because it doesn't say. "We were fu**ing amazing Saturday". What is says is the truth! We were poor Bart kept us in the game. They battered us and deserved to win. We had a handful of plays and that was it! But you still think that the team was fantastic and continue to preach it! We scraped past reading and got what we deserved against QPR and me and most others on this forum know it. You may continue to mark me down as much as you like because I don't give a flying one. I know full well how we played and it wasn't anything like what you think we did! I will continue following the town where ever we go and will shout and sing as loud as I can and I pay plenty of money to fully express my view! Anyway well done for knowing the days of the week. Maybe next we we can learn colours!

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BanksterDebtSlave added 21:18 - Feb 7 Blue boy 1981....be miserable! Does prebsa do your proxy votes.....? Right now where is that happy chappy band when you need them?
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BrettenhamBlue added 01:13 - Feb 8 My take on the game: We were outplayed first half. We came to life a bit for the first 15 mins of the second but when we made the midfield substitution things went from average to exceptionally poor. We offered little to no threat and were completely overrun in midfield which shows we lack STRENGTH IN DEPTH (which so many supporters have already commented on). When QPR FINALLY scored (thanks mainly to a super-heroic effort from Bartman) we suddenly came to life and tried to get the ball forwards. We don't have good midfield subs. It's actually embarrassing watching some of our sub play.

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