After four straight defeats the last game of 2004 at Loftus Road was a big one for Rangers with the slid down the table continuing at an alarming rate.

Holloway made two changes to the team that lost at Plymouth. Georges Santos suspension gave Richard Edghill a start at centre half whilst Adam Miller dropped to the bench with Leon best getting his first start.

In a muted Loftus Road Rangers lost the toss and needed to attack the Loft in the first half. Rangers needed a good start and we pushed forward looking to get the opening goal.

Rowlands was looking bright on the right wing linking well with Bignot and the signs were good. We almost took the lead as a Cook ball in found Bircham who pulled the ball back to the waiting Best and Furlong but both strikers had shots blocked by Clayton Ince in the Crewe goal to deny us a good start.

Furlong had the ball in the Crewe net but Leon best was ruled offside as Furlong ran clear and lifted the ball over Ince into the back of the net.

A clever Padula corner almost gifted us the lead. As the Crewe defence waited for a cross to Shittu it was played out to the edge of the box where Rowlands ran onto it late but his volley went just over the bar.

Shittu was next to go close from a corner. Gallen floated it in and the ball fell to Shittu who smashed an unstoppable shot towards goal but with Ince beaten the ball flew inches over the bar.

Lee Cook went on a run and tried his luck but his curling shot didn’t have enough power to beat the keeper and Ince made the save look a bit more difficult than it should have been. Gallen got free from his man to try and put a cross in for Furlong but Walker got across and took the ball away with a strong tackle as the crowd began to aim their frustrations on the QPR captain.

Crewe took the lead soon after against the run of play. Ashton headed just wide from Crewe’s first real attack and from the second attack they got a goal. A corner on the right was headed back by Ashton for Richard Walker rose to head towards the back of the net. Marc Bircham looked to have cleared it off the line but the linesmen gave the goal and we were a goal down. It was impossible to tell if it went in or not from where I was so I’ll give the linesmen the benefit of the doubt.

Ranger’s lack of height though was once again our undoing as for the second home game in a row a set piece caused all sorts of problems for us.

Rangers looked shell-shocked but tried to get back in the game. Rowlands went on a few runs down the right but the confidence appeared to be draining from the side. Gallen tried one run into the box but his positive movement ended with Walker again getting across to cover.

With most fans on the way down for a half time pint Crewe made a mockery of the first half by going 2-0 up. Rowlands tired a run down the right but his cross was cleared and Bircham slipped to give Crewe a break.

The Rangers defence followed the ball chasing out to the left and Mark Rivers made a clever run to the far post. You could see it coming as Crewe picked out Rivers and he slotted past Day from about 10 yards out. A simple goal with the last attack of the half to make it 2-0. Rangers didn’t deserve to be behind at the break but a fifth consecutive defeat looked a certainty now.

Holloway didn’t make any changes at the break giving his side a chance to sort things out. We continued to be on top but chances were hard to come by, as Crewe looked very happy to sit on what they had.

Furlong fired one shot over the bar before Best had two chances after decent moves by Rangers but both times he couldn’t get the power on his effort to really test the keeper.

Holloway had seen enough and made a few changes, McLeod replaced Padula and went to left back in a move, which baffled a few fans. It seemed to work though as McLeod looked pretty good at left back getting forward from deep and over lapping to get one or two crosses in.

Gareth Ainsworth and Adam Miller replaced the very disappointing Lee Cook and Marc Bircham as we threw everything at Crewe. Ainsworth was excellent when he came on throwing himself at every challenge and putting in one good cross, which Furlong headed over.

Furlong then had another goal disallowed. McLeod crossed from the left and Furlong got away from his defender to tap it past Ince but the ref ruled it out for either shirt pulling or offside. Given our luck in recent weeks I’d fully expect a television replay to show nothing wrong with the goal.

Furlong was looking frustrated and he was got his fifth booking of the season for raising is feet. He’ll now face a one game ban which I think is the Notts Forest FA Cup tie but I’m not 100% sure on that.

Despite being on top we were almost 3-0 down after some poor/unlucky defending by Shittu. Shittu failed to clear once and his second attempt hit Ashton to send the striker clean through. A goal seemed certain but Day came out to narrow the angle and make a good save.

Rangers got back in the game with just under 10 minutes left. Adam Miller took a corner on the left and Dan Shittu rose to head past Ince and despite a clearance off the line the linesmen again gave the goal and we were back in it.

The fans began to wake up and got behind the team but we never really looked confident enough to get back in the game. We did have chances though. Adam Miller fired a shot over the bar before we won a free kick about 10 yards outside the box, Furlong got ready to take it but the ref moved the ball 10 yards forward. I know it was supposed to be our advantage but surely it’s down to the attacking team if we take it or not and moving the ball further forward seemed to make it easier for Crewe.

Clayton Ince ended up standing in the wall and Ince saved Furlongs fierce shot and the rebound was scrambled clear. Another goalmouth scramble saw out last chance as Furlong, best and Rowlands all had a go but we couldn’t get the equaliser and the referee blew to signal a fifth straight defeat.

Overall I thought Edghill had a good game as did Furlong and McLeod did surprisingly well at left back but that’s about it. Edghill was excellent at getting headers clear which is something Shittu needs to get back to doing as his headers are more often than not going straight up in the air rather than away from danger. Leon Best did OK for his first full game and it’s a shame to hear some of the stick he got after the game. It's no wonder that Holloway doesn't risk our own youth players when a loan 18 year old is written off straight away.

It's a very bad run we're on at the moment but we can get out of it. One win will change everything just as one defeat changed everything after the 7 game winning run.

The Gallen/Bircham midfield partnership is also beginning to get a hammering from the fans, which is a little unfair. Gallen is not a central midfield player but he’s done a good job for the team this season and although eh has lost his way in the last few games I thought he’d be given a chance by the fans before they got on his back. One of the main problems with the Gallen/Bircham partnership is that Gallen ends up being the holding player, which for me is a complete waste of time.

I felt Gallen did the holding role quite well yesterday to be honest but that's not his game and I think it's a waste of time asking him to play that role when he is better at other things. Not sure if this is a managerial decision or just something that happens as Bircham gets a rush of blood to the head during games.

For any partnership to work they need to play to their strengths and Bircham for whatever reason doesn't do that often enough. He did when he first got in the side this season which was when Gallen looked good in midfield but since he's tried to be the attacker Gallen has looked lost as to whether he should be going forward or holding.

Brighton at home next for Rangers and with the team in the bottom half of the table now for the first time since early September, this is a must win game for us to get some confidence back and calm down a few of the more excitable fans calling for blood on the Internet.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Richard Edghill

Players Ratings: Day 7. Bignot 7, Padula 7 (McLeod 7), Edghill 8, Shittu 6, Rowlands 7, Gallen 6, Bircham 5 (Miller 6), Cook 5 (Ainsworth 7), Best 6, Furlong 7.