Caretaker boss John Eustace is hoping for a positive reaction from his QPR players when they host Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The Rs looked set to claim a well-earned point at play-off chasing Derby on Easter Monday, before two late goals sunk the visitors and catapulted the Rams into the play-off places.
Despite that late disappointment, Eustace says there’s been no hangover from his players and they’re focussed on finishing another tumultuous season with a positive result in front of their own fans against Martin O’Neill’s Reds.
“I haven’t had to lift the players after that. They are all looking forward to the game on Saturday.
“At the end of the day, we still lost at Derby so we are looking for a positive reaction. We want to go out there and put in a competitive performance, especially with it being our last game at home.
“We created a lot of chances at Derby and I’d like us to play with more freedom and be more clinical on Saturday.”
Forest’s hopes of finishing the top six came to a bruising end with four defeats in a row in the run-up to Easter, though they responded in some style by crushing Middlesbrough 3-0 at the City Ground on Monday, and Eustace is fully aware of the threat Forest pose.
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“Every team in this division, it doesn’t matter who you are, can go on poor runs and good runs in this league.
“We know it’s going to be an extremely tough game.
“Martin O’Neill is a very experienced manager, a very good manager and I am sure he will have his team ready.
“For us, the players want to finish with a good performance as a thank you to the fans for all their loyal support this season.”
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Rangers are set to be without former Forest man Joel Lynch who is suffering from a hamstring problem, while Angel Rangel, Jake Bidwell and Grant Hall also remain doubtful, though there could be a return for Toni Leistner.
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