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The EFL Championship heats up once again as the Queens Park Rangers miss another opportunity to edge closer towards automatic promotion.
Fulham have now opened up quite a substantial nine-point lead at the top of the table despite playing two extra games compared to their nearest rivals Bournemouth. A meager five points separate second-placed Bournemouth from fifth-placed QPR.
The 1-0 loss to Blackburn Rovers was the third defeat for the Hoops in their last five league outings. Worse still, it allowed their rivals to break their four-match winless run in the division.
The defeat also meant that Luton Town and Paul Heckingbottom's Sheffield United are now within touching distance of Queens Park Rangers.
A dry performance at Ewood Park
Blackburn started the game with great motivation to snap their faltering record. QPR struggled early on as Sam Gallagher threatened to open the scoring. QPR defended dodgily to keep themselves level at half-time.
The second half barely sparked any comeback from the visitors, as they were immediately sent on the back foot. Despite dominating the possession, the visitors barely managed to threaten Thomas Kaminski's goal.
However, Blackburn managed to seal the game after a fantastic free kick from Reda Khadra looped over the QPR goalkeeper.
Lack of creativity in Queens Park Rangers midfield
It has been quite a while since Queens Park Rangers looked like a team with real ambition to secure promotion to the Premier League. Their midfield has been relatively static since the turn of the year and has been a growing concern for Mark Warburton.
The holding midfield duo of Jeff Hendrick and Sam Field have been rather inconsistent at times, often conceding sloppy fouls and free-kicks. The same was the case in their last two outings, one of which resulted in a defeat.
Interestingly, Field escaped a red in their outing against Blackpool. It could have been QPR's second red of the game after Dion Sanderson was sent off at the interval.
To further reiterate the point, QPR's last win by a margin of more than a solitary goal came back in January against relegation-threatened Reading, a fixture which they won 4-0.
Things are spicing up in the EFL Championship as the race for automatic qualification tightens up. The last time Queens Park Rangers graced Premier League football was back in the 2014-15 season.
Since then, they have struggled to fight their way out of the Championship. This season offers them a solid chance of securing automatic qualification. However, they now have some distance to cover.
