Rangers were held to a draw at home to Brighton on Saturday, their third straight deadlocked game.
Gary Waddock continued his quick learning curve with the visit of relegation threatened Brighton. This was never going to be a feast of football with the Seagulls scrapping for every point they can get. QPR will rue missed opportunities, a lack of discipline and the weak equaliser which gave the Seagulls a share of the spoils.
Jones continued in goal following his heroic performance at Hillsborough, with Bignot, Milanese, Evatt and Shittu at the back. Bircham and Lomas continued in midfield with the seemingly revitalised Lee Cook and Gareth Ainsworth providing the width. Despite reports of Marc Nygaard being injured yet again he started the game with Kevin Gallen in attack. There was space on the bench for some experienced players like Royce, Santos and Langley.
QPR took the lead after just 13 minutes through top scorer Gareth Ainsworth - it was just what he deserved and he again stood out with his own slightly mad style of football. If you can rely on one man to produce scissor kicks and countless headed challenges during the game then it's Ainsworth! After neat build up play down our left, the ball was again at the feet of Cook. His pinpoint cross found Ainsworth charging in at the back post and he got there before the defender to head emphatically home.
It was a deserved lead and Brighton didn't seem to have any answers, in fact they looked pretty shell-shocked. The decisions weren't going their way either during the first half with the referee favouring the home side.
We continued to put some pressure on Brighton but there was a distinct lack of saves or chances around the Brighton goal. Gallen was linking up well up front with Nygaard working alongside him, both Ainsworth and Cook continued to be our best source of inspiration with both looking lively.
We went into the break 1-0 up and Brighton had offered little to overturn our lead. It was interesting to note that the pitch was given a good watering at half-time, something which I haven't seen in a while at Rangers.
We started the second in a similar vein until the game changed in the 50th minute. Gallen and the Brighton centre half Paul McShane clashed and immediately the referee Leake was on the spot to wave his red card in the air. I must admit I didn't see the incident and many around us didn't either. But the ref didn't have any hesitation and despite Gallen's obvious frustrations he was soon making his way down the tunnel. It appears he did lash out at the fella but it didn't quite warrant his performance rolling around on the Loftus Road turf.
Nygaard was now the lone man upfront and with him already pulling up once in this game it wasn't long before he was taken off. He worked hard but he just couldn't close down the Brighton defenders quick enough and they had all the time in the world to roll it across their back four.
On 62 minutes, Waddock really went for it by taking off the big Dane and Lee Cook, who had been bright to this point. On came young Shabazz Baidoo and Sammy Youssouf as Rangers switched to a 4-3-2 formation.
Since the sending off Brighton had seen plenty of the ball, but without really testing Jones in the QPR goal. McGhee changed things around as well with three substitutions in the space of 10 minutes.
At the other end Baidoo and Youssouf were starting to cause some problems. Youssouf was winning plenty of headers and Baidoo was a menace with his pace. He had one great opportunity where he ran at the Brighton defence but he unfortunately blasted over the bar.
Brighton then got what they were after with an equaliser 10 minutes from time - I'm sure they weren't expecting such a gift of a goal but lets face it you'll take anything when fighting relegation. The Seagulls launched another high ball into the box and it fell to Bignot, he slightly delayed heading it clear and before he knew it he was under pressure. With a Brighton man on him he took the option of heading backwards towards Jones, unfortunately it was nowhere near him and the ball was soon rustling in the corner of the net.
It was a terrible error and the body language of the players said everything really. Everyone was gutted. Bignot was a tremendous player for us last season, but he just hasn't lived up to that this time round. Many teams have exposed his lack of height at the far post and Brighton will have been surprised at just how easy it was.
Rangers then went about going for a winner but you just felt as if time was against us. From a free kick Ainsworth sent a shot flying over the bar and then just minutes later we had a great opportunity to equalise. A great cross was put into the box and from the resulting knock down Baidoo was literally a yard away from the ball but he just couldn't connect.
All in all it was really two points dropped for Rangers and Waddock and co will be bitterly disappointed. Gallen will be unhappy with his forthcoming ban as well and Bignot will have to improve his performances if he wants to continue at right back next year.
We again dominated large patches of the game but converting those chances is a real problem and the fact that Ainsworth is our highest scorer says it all. He was our best player on the day though and again worked his socks off and produced some good runs. The defence weren't really troubled by a goal-shy Brighton attack and Shittu was marshalling the line well.
Cook and Ainsworth were our creative sparks but the midfield pairing of Birch and Lomas is slightly too one-dimensional at times and we lacked a creative edge in the middle. Nygaard is always a danger but it appears to be an uphill task to keep the bloke fit. If he stays on it will be nice to see him next year after a full pre-season.
For the first time in a while we haven't got a lot to play for in terms of league placings and there is a feeling of going through the motions at the moment for many fans. The players though have a lot to play for I would have thought. They all have to try and impress Waddock and show him what they can do and for those fighting for a new deal they had better do it quickly to earn that new contarct.
A tough trip to Cardiff is up next and Waddock may decide to start trying out a few of the other players to see what they can do.
QPR: Jones 7, Bignot 5, Shittu 7, Evatt 6, Milanese 7, Ainsworth 8*, Bircham 6, Lomas 6, Cook 7 (Baidoo 62, 7), Gallen 6, Nygaard 6 (Youssouf 62, 7).
Subs Not Used: Royce, Santos, Langley.
Sent Off: Gallen (50)
Booked: Baidoo.
Goals: Ainsworth 13.
Brighton: Henderson, Hinshelwood, McShane, Butters, El-Abd (Dodd 55), Carole (Gatting 58), Hammond, Carpenter, Frutos (Loft 65), Hart, Kazim-Richards.
Subs Not Used: Martin, Reid.
Booked: El-Abd, Hart.
Goals: Bignot 80 (og)
Att: 13,907
QPR Man of the Match - Gareth Ainsworth - Yet again a top performance from Ainsworth, he's the one player who you can guarantee will give you everything he's got. I'm surprised he hasn't picked up more injuries this season with the way he throws himself around. Good goal from him and he'll be looking to carry on his fine scoring record this season.
Ref: A Leake (Lancashire) 6 - Many Rangers fans will remember him from the trip to Coventry this season. Well from our point of view he wasn't too bad in the first half and probably gave too much stuff our way. Some of the free kicks we got I was very surprised about. He was busier in the second with the sending off and the game started to get more disruptive with his whistle blowing.