A month ago Rangers were in the top two and looking good for promotion but going into the match away at Wigan we had slipped to sixth place and needed to avoid defeat if we wanted to stay in touch with the top four.

After a disappointing defeat against Oldham we now faced Wigan who were top of the division and have only lost twice all season. It looked a difficult game on paper and that's exactly how it proved.

Ian Holloway made one change to the team that lost on Saturday. Loan star Jerome Thomas was dropped to the bench as Dennis Oli came in. Rangers switched to a 4-4-2 with Oli on the left and Rose on the right. Steve Palmer started in central midfield with Thomson and Karl Connolly up front.

Rangers started poorly against a Wigan team who looked full of confidence. We struggled to get out of our own half for the first five or six minutes as we defended far to deep and allowed Wigan to push up on our defence. Nathan Ellington looked dangerous for the home side and an early header was the best chance they had to show for their good start.

Rangers again missed Gallen as we failed to hold the ball up front and by the time we cleared the ball Thomson or Connolly had usually lost it again and we were back under pressure. We were making it far more difficult than it had to be and the midfield was a complete shambles.

Palmer seemed to have no idea where he should be whilst Rose stayed on the right out of the way and Oli looked lost on the left. Langley was left to pick up the pieces but he to was struggling early on.

The Rangers fans began to get frustrated and after some loud support early on the frustrations were taken out on Palmer who was having a shocking game. Despite such a poor start we almost took the lead.

Good work on the right saw a cross come in for Karl Connolly whose miss hit shot went inches past the post.

The referee the bottled what looked to be a blatant penalty for Rangers. Andy Thomson ran through and was taken out by the keeper but only as corner was given. You could argue that Thomson was looking for the penalty but the keeper caught him and I've seen penalties given for far less than that.

That seemed to spark Wigan back into life and they played some nice football to get into good positions and earn several corners. Ellington and Liddell both had chances but couldn't find a way through. We were hanging on and most of us were looking anxiously at the clock for the half time such was the level of Rangers performance.

The goal came for Wigan midway through the half. Danny Shittu appeared to be fouled but the ref ignored it. Shittu then lost his cool and chased after the Wigan forward only to pull him down outside the box. There was no need to do it as we had enough defenders back to cover the danger. Andy Liddell lined up the free kick on the corner of the penalty area and as the defence and keeper waited for a cross, Liddell curled the ball into the top corner. Rangers were stunned but it had been coming and it was a quality goal.

A defeat looked inevitable at this stage with Palmer looking his age in midfield and the forwards were getting balls pumped high in the air to them and to no ones surprise they didn't win the aerial battle. It was all looking pretty grim and as usual we had a referee who didn't seem to know what he was doing giving some laughable decisions both for and against us.

Mind you without the referee things would have been a lot worse. With half time approaching another hopeful long punt saw Connolly win the flick for once and head out for a goal kick.

The referee must have been used to seeing Wigan win every header and gave a corner much to the disgust of the home support. You had to laugh really as already we should have had a penalty and why the Wigan fans lost the plot for conceding a corner was beyond me.

As usual the corner was easily cleared at the near post but the clearance fell to the Rose played a nice pass out wide to Langley. Langley took a touch and curled a brilliant cross into the middle for Andy Thomson to stretch out a leg and touch the ball into the back of the net.

The Rangers fans went mad and we were back in the game. Karl Connolly limped off just after the goal as Jerome Thomas came on to play on the left with Dennis Oli going up front. The half time whistle went soon afterwards and it was laughable really that we were level in this game. We needed huge improvements if we were going to get anything from this game.

The second started with us looking a bit brighter. Palmer was winning tackles in midfield and Langley was getting on the ball a bit more. Dennis Oli looked far more dangerous up front and things looks a lot better than it had done in the first half. Still though we failed to keep the ball for long periods and we were soon on the back foot again. Wigan had a few chances the best coming from a corner, which Ellington did well to control and hit a shot, which was cleared off the line.

The Ranges fans began to find their voice and cheered the team forward. We finally managed to create a few chances at the other end with Andy Thomson hitting a shot wide and Jerome Thomas causing problems with some skilful runs. A free kick about 30 yards out saw Tommy Williams hit a fierce effort which took a deflection and was just tipped over the bar by the keeper. We looked like we might earn a second goal but once again we couldn't sustain the pressure and the final twenty minutes was played mostly in the Rangers half.

Wigan continued to play some nice stuff but Rangers were now fighting hard to win the ball and although we couldn't keep it for more than 30 seconds, we weren't under too much pressure to lose the point we had worked hard to win.

Steve Palmer was much improved and had a run in with the Wigan number 10. Twice he was elbowed in the head and he appealed to the ref for some protection. He never got it and a third elbow saw Palmer flat out on the floor and the referee giving a throw in. Palmer was disgusted and pointed the finger at the Wigan midfielder whilst Shittu and Langley came running over to have their say. Credit here to Clarke Carlisle who pulled his team mates away and told him defence to get back in position and rise above this. Carlisle did a great job here as we had lost our cool and the one time Shittu did this in the first half we conceded a goal.

Wigan then showed an amazing lack of sporting behaviour. The drop ball saw a player smash the ball against Forbes as it flew out for a throw in by the corner flag. The Wigan players steamed forward trying to attack as the Rangers players and fans went mad at the referee and the player. To be fair the ref could do nothing about this and thankfully the Wigan number 3 saw sense and threw the ball out for a goal kick.

Time was running out and a nice build up involving Rose and Thomson saw Jerome Thomas get the ball in space but his right foot shot was easily saved. Wigan still had two late chances to win the game. Ellington went on a good strong run, which saw him hold off Shittu with ease, but his shot went wide. Good work on the right also saw a free header for a Wigan forward but it went just over.

We hung on though for a much needed point and the players and fans were delighted at the end of the game. It wasn't a great QPR performance by any stretch of the imagination and if Wigan had taken one of their chances in the second half the inquest would been going on now into an abysmal performance. The players worked hard though and defended well enough to earn a point.

We need to improve our passing and learn how to keep possession even if Gallen isn't playing. Still I'll save the moans for another day and be happy with a hard fought point against the top of the table team.

Man of the Match: Terrell Forbes

Players Ratings

15. Simon Royce: Made a few good saves but could have done better with the goal. 7/10

2. Terrell Forbes: Another excellent defensive performance and was one of the only players to come out of the first half with any credit. 81/0

33. Tommy Williams: A decent defensive display but he never really got forward apart from to take free kicks and corners. He can play a lot better than this. 6/10

5. Clarke Carlisle: Organised the defence very well and had a solid game. 7/10

6. Danny Shittu: Lost his cool for the first gal in giving away a free kick but overall he had a good game. 7/10

7. Matthew Rose: Right wing is not his best position but he did reasonably well winning the ball and using it well. His first touch is still poor but he did a good job for the team. 7/10

4. Steve Palmer: Awful in the first half as he looked like an old man lost in midfield. As the game wore on he began to win the ball and was quite effective. 6/10

9. Richard Langley: Held the midfield together with some good passing but once again a lack of movement saw him needing to to backwards or hang on to the ball for to long. 7/10

20. Dennis Oli: He will have learnt a lot in the firsthalf as he chased shadows on the left wing. He improved when he went up front. 6/10

11. Karl Connolly: Had one chance to score when he should have done better but didn't get any service. 6/10

27. Andy Thomson: Two chances, one goal. Once again with Thomson you know what you get with him. Outside the box he does very little but to be fair he wasn't as bad as some people were saying. He had virtually no service all game but once again he has won us a point with a goal. 7/10

Subs:

32. Jerome Thomas: Good on the ball as he glided past players as if they were not on the pitch but he was usually fouled or took on one man to many. He did look sharper than he has recently though as he begins to get his match fitness back. Hopefully his loan can be extended as he has plenty more to offer. 6/10