After Rangers seven match winning run came to an end at Preston we didn’t have long to wait to get back to action and try and get back in winning form again.

Things weren’t made easy though as injuries continued to pile up. Georges Santos passed a late fitness test to boost Ian Holloway’s squad but we were without Dan Shittu, Tony Thorpe, Gareth Ainsworth, Jamie Cureton and most importantly Paul Furlong all through injury.

This meant a reshape to the team, which wasn’t ideal when you are facing one of the pre season favourites for promotion. Matthew Rose replaced Gino Padula at left back and but it was in midfield where we saw the most changes. Serge Branco and Marcus Bean both started with Branco on the right wing. Kevin McLeod dropped to the bench as the new strike partnership of Kevin Gallen and Martin Rowlands was formed.

The rain was pouring down as the game started with Rangers attacking to our right in the blue and white hoops. We started well and good work by Gallen won us an early corner. Lee Cook went over to take it and Rangers tried to late run from deep routine again which almost worked with Bean heading wide before Rose got on the end of it and hit the outside of the post from close range.

Rangers were well on top early on with Gallen holding the ball up and causing problems to the home side with his lay offs to wide players where Branco and Cook had the beating of their full backs. Wolves had opted to put Mark Kennedy at left back which seemed a barmy decision to me and one we perhaps should have taken more advantage of.

One nice passing move resulted in a fantastic cross from Branco which curled across the box crying out for someone to get on the end of but Rangers lack of numbers up front meant no one got on the end of it.

Rowlands was struggling in his new position and found himself too close to Gallen most of the time as we struggled to break down the Wolves back four but we were looking pretty comfortable for the first twenty minutes and had begun to quieten the noisy home support.

Wolves got the opening goal on 22 minutes though after poor defending by Rangers. Cooper did well on the right as Rose went out to meet him and as he crossed to the far post Santos went walkabout to the near post leaving Bignot to deal with Carl Cort and the big forward easily out jumped Bignot to head past Day into the bottom corner.

Bignot was fuming as he argued with Santos over some poor defending by the big defender but Santos soon made up for it with a few excellent tackles. Wolves were starting to look dangerous and Carl Cort had a goal disallowed for offside where the striker was a good two yards offside. Kenny Miller then went in the book for deliberate handball. A cross in the middle was going straight to Chris Day when Miller for some reason punched it towards the goal and got a needless booking.

The home side almost increased their lead before half time. A good cross by Ki-Hyeon was whipped across the goalmouth for Cort to shoot towards the back of the net but Santos slid in with a brilliant saving block tackle to keep us in the game.

Rangers were still playing some neat football on an increasingly poor surface. Kevin Gallen did well to get the ball off Bischoff and got clear of the last defender to be one on one with the keeper. Gallen controlled the ball and positioned himself but his shot was straight at the keeper and easily saved.

Lee Cook had now switched to the right wing and was having plenty of joy. In front of the QPR fans he weaved plenty of magic and in one instance got the ball on the corner flag surrounded by three defenders but managed to dribbled around all three then a fourth before laying a neat pass into Gallen. The moved ended with Bircham being put through but Wolves saw it out for a goal kick. Cook was our most dangerous player going forward though and his tricks and speed on the wet surface were a joy to watch.

The home fans were becoming increasingly annoyed with the referee although it was unclear why most of the time as he was giving some strange decisions against both teams and to be fair to him he was taking the conditions into account rather than booking every miss times tackle.

One booking did quite rightly upset the home fans though, Cameron slid in late on Branco and although it was a foul the five rolls on the floor by Branco were needless to say the least and not the sort of thing you like to see from a QPR player. Branco then stood in bemusement as the ref, 24,000 fans and teammates told him to come off the pitch after he received treatment but he just stood looking very confused by it all. The ref wisely just played on, as Branco probably didn’t understand that part of the English game

As half time came Rangers seemed happy to just be a goal down and personally I couldn’t see a way back for us with so few strikers available. It hadn’t been a poor performance by any means but all Gallen’s good work was being wasted by a lack of support from his teammates up front.

During the half time break the rain came down even heavier and the ref had a tough call to make with the pitch looking unplayable. Huge puddles began to appear on the pitch and although the ground staff cleared water from the wide areas they never got round to the middle of the pitch which just became a bog for the second half. If Wolves hadn’t been in front I think the game may have been abandoned but the game continued and credit to both teams for still trying to pass the ball on an awful surface.

As the second half started it looked impossible to see much quality as every pass just stopped within five yards on the pitch and every slide tackle resembled someone jumping in a swimming pool rather than trying to win a ball on what was a Premiership pitch six months ago.

Rangers started the half well though and some neat play on the left between Rose and Cook created a chance for Bean on the edge of the area but his shot was poor and flew well wide of the goal.

Matthew Rose was looking impressive back in the side at left back passing the ball out from the back well and his link up play with Cook was excellent as the pair of them began to cause problems for the home side and created an opening for Gallen but the ball got stuck in the water and Wolves cleared.

The conditions were becoming more and more farcical but Rangers were coping with them better and were on top. We won a number of corners and from one of them Lee Cook put the ball in for Georges Santos but the big defender headed wide from close range.

Rangers then had a good penalty shout turned down. A neat passing move ended with Rowlands flicking a neat pass in between the two defenders for Bircham to run onto and a Wolves player slid in knocking Bircham over for a penalty but the ref waved player on. There was certainly more contact than on Wayne Rooney in this afternoons Man Utd v Arsenal match.

To make matters worse Wolves soon extended their lead with a well-taken goal. Nigerian Seyi George Olofinjana did well in midfield and placed a neat ball in between Simek and Rose for Cort to run onto and he took it well firing past Day into the top corner. With Kevin Gallen being our only recognisable striker and with the pitch getting worse by the second it was pretty clear we weren’t going to get much out of this game.

Holloway had already made one change though. 16-year-old Scott Donnelly got another chance to impress replacing the disappointing Marcus Bean. Donnelly soon had the chance to get us back in the game. Good work again on the left created an opening and a ball across goal found Donnelly 25 yards our and completely unmarked. The youngster kept his shot down but fired it wide of the post.

Seconds later Kenny Miller was shown a red card. It all came after a 50/50 between Branco and Miller. Bircham slid in for the lose ball and fell over Miller. Miller was furious he didn’t get a free kick and chased the referee for a few minutes hurling abuse at the official when to be honest I didn’t see much wrong with Bircham or Branco’s challenge. Miller talked himself into a second yellow card and will get a suspension now all because he threw his toys out of the pram. What an idiot.

Rangers looked to take advantage of the one-man advantage but the home side defended deep in numbers and with the playing surface now just water it was not easy to create many chances.

We still did though and Rowlands had a shot well saved by the keeper after a good period of passing. Santos was moved to play up front as we went for it in the last 15 minutes whilst McLeod came on for rank Simek to add another attacking dimension.

Wolves almost made it three when Rangers forgot about the conditions and tried to pass out from the back and saw the ball get stuck in the water between two Rangers players. A cross to the far post found Newton but his shot was going wide and was saved by Day.

Rangers grabbed a deserved goal in injury time. Gallen got the ball from 25 yards out with his back to goal. The QPR Captain turned and produced a brilliant chip to beat the keeper and with a goal of the season contender. It was all too late though and the referee blew for full time a minute later.

This was a disappointing result but with a reshaped team and in almost impossible conditions the players did the club proud and were unlucky not to leave with a point. The main difference between the two sides was Carl Cort who cost Wolves almost £2million whilst we had to play out right-winger up front. At half time I couldn't see a way back in it for us but we played so well in the second half and never deserved to lose that game. We really missed Furlong but I think we would have got away with that if Thorpe or Cureton had been fit.

Wolves look a decent side but we matched them for long periods in the game and although the end result was not what we wanted we can take plenty of positives out of the game and try and get back to winnings ways next weekend.

Man of the Match: Kevin Gallen

Players Ratings

1. Chris Day: Didn't have much chance with either of the goals and a decent performance from the QPR number one. His distribution is improving as he looks to throw to his full backs now rather than hoof it long to Gallen. 7/10

2. Marcus Bignot: Had a tough job marking the impressive Soel Ki-Hyeon but he stuck to his job well and was always looking for the ball and trying to get forward even after we went two goals behind. 7/10

7. Matthew Rose: Possibly could have done better in cutting out Cooper for the first goal but overall a very good display. His got forward well, defended with real authority and is probably playing the best football we've seen from him since the 1999/00 season. 8/10

23. Georges Santos: At fault for the first goal but made up for it with a brilliant block tackle to keep us in the game before half time. He also looked a threat when he switched to a forward in the second half and went close to his second goal of the week. 7/10

28. Frank Simek: Read the game well alongside Santos as he cut out several Wolves attacks before they got going. Taken off in the second half as we looked to get back in the game but he looks a good loan signing. 7/10

19. Serge Branco: Deserved the abuse he got form the home fans for a terrible dive in the first half which got a Wolves player booked. Apart from that though he had a good game, working hard in three different positions and showing a little bit of quality on the ball as well. 7/10

16. Marcus Bean: Not a good performance from Bean. He struggled to get in the game but the conditions hardly helped his game as every tackle was made to look ten times worse as he had to slide through five foot of water to get to the ball. 6/10

8. Marc Bircham: Ran his socks off for the team and did everything he could to get us back in the game. He looked to be on a one man mission at times wanting the ball all over the pitch and driving the team forward. 8/10

17. Lee Cook: Another impressive display from Cook. On both the right and left wings he delivered some magic dribbling past players and using the ball sensibly. He seems to be getting better all of the time and if he can just improve the consistency of his final ball into the box then we'll have a hell of a player of our hands. 8/10

14. Martin Rowlands: Played in an unfamiliar forward role and looked lost for most of the game. As ever with Rowlands he tried his best working hard and producing a few nice through balls but he's be the first to admit he's not suited to a forward role. 7/10

10. Kevin Gallen: Back up front and he staked his claim to make his move back up front a permanent one. He worked hard and caused Wolves problems with his strength and skill. Scored one brilliant goal and probably should have scored more missing a few other chances. If he'd had a recognised forward alongside him I think we'd have got something out of the game 9/10

Subs

25. Scott Donnelly: Another run out for the 16 year old and he did OK in front of the biggest crowd he's ever played in front of. Perhaps should have scored when he shot wide but encouraging that he is able to get into good positions and I'm sure he'll get better the more he plays. 7/10

18. Kevin McLeod: Didn't have much of an impact when he came on and struggled to get into the game. 6/10