QPR BOSS Mark Warburton believes his side failed to take advantage of some early second-half momentum after falling to a heavy 4-1 defeat against west London rivals Fulham.

Aleksandar Mitrovic had put Fulham 1-0 up at half-time, before Lyndon Dykes equalised to draw the Rs level in the 55th minute.

However, a second strike by Mitrovic just 12 minutes later and further goals from Bobby Decordova-Reid and Antonee Robinson saw the home side take all three points at Craven Cottage.

The defeat coupled with other results sees QPR fall to eighth in the table, with Fulham now in third and just two points off an automatic promotion spot.

Warburton, back in the dugout after recovering from Covid-19, said his team did not do enough to win the match following Dykes’ strike.

He said: “We wanted to be more aggressive in the second half and be more on the front foot.

“We were that at the start of the second half. Lyndon scored a very good goal, a nice finish. At that point, we were in the ascendancy.

“We needed to maximise that position and have to recognise that we can’t concede goals like the second one.

“It was three or four-v-one in the box. That can’t happen. That changed the whole dynamic of the game. We were 2-1 down, conceded a really poor third and then the fourth one deflects in.

“I just felt we had a softness to us for periods of the game today which is very unlike us.”

Warburton also accused his side of being too soft in the first half and allowing Mitrovic to hand Fulham a 1-0 lead in the opening 45 minutes.

He said: “If I’m being honest, I thought there was a softness about us in the first half.

“We didn’t do the basics well enough. You can play all the nice football that you like, but you’ve got to do the basics well. 

“We showed Fulham too much respect in the first half. That was summed up by the first goal. Mitrovic is a talented forward of course, but he had too much time to bring the ball down and finish. That cannot happen.”

The team will look to rebound when they host Blackburn Rovers at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium tomorrow evening.