After two good results on the road it was back to Loftus Road last night for a London derby against one of the promotion favourites Crystal Palace.

Ian Holloway had a few extra injury problems before the game with Dean Sturridge, Steve Lomas and Marc Nygaard all missing out on the game. This meant a return to the first team for Stefan Moore along with Paul Furlong and Tom Doherty. The only other change was on the right here Ainsworth came in for Langley.

Those watching at home were soon switching over as the game got off to a slow start. Rangers were lumping it forward to Furlong and Palace were lumping it back at us.

Even without Andy Johnson though the visitors looked a threat with Clinton Morrison and Dougie Freedman showing some fantastic movement and were denied by the offside flag early on.

This was a big test for Shittu and one he failed miserably as the Irish International Morrison was destroying Shittu with good pace and movement.

It took around fifteen minutes for the visitors to take the lead with a very well taken effort. Palace broke the offside trap with a clever run from Freedman. Rangers stopped and Freedman put in a lovely ball to Reich who volleyed past Royce. It was such a simple goal but very well taken.

It soon got worse for Rangers as we looked an absolute shambles. Doherty gave away a needless free kick on the edge of the box and the lack of organisation among the players was there for all to see.

The wall lined up was awful with Dyer standing a few feet away from the wall leaving a big gap for Reich to aim at. The Palace winger curled it through the gap into the bottom corner giving Royce no chance. Rubbish defending by Rangers and this was turning into an embarrassment.

To the teams credit they fought back straight away. For the only time in the game Dyer and Cook combined on the left wing with Dyer lifting a cross over for Ainsworth to head into the bottom corner.

We didn't deserve it but we now had plenty of time to turn the game around. The rest of the half saw us huff and puff but to little effect.

Ainsworth was impressing on the left working hard and getting the better of his full back but his final ball wasn't the best. Stefan Moore was looking a waste of space and it was his lack of movement off the ball, which was problem. His only effort was a shot from 40 yards, which he had no chance of scoring with.

Palace were by far the better side and should have gone in 3-1 up at the break when Morrison was clean through but he shot wide when it seemed easier to score. Rangers had one late chance with a free kick right on the edge of the box in Langley territory but as he was on the bench we did the old knock it to Furlong trick and as has been the case this season the shot was blocked by the onrushing defender.

At halftime I was pleased it was only 2-1, Palace were the better side and we had been woeful. Rangers made no changes at the break and the game didn't change much either. Palace looked a threat going forward whilst we looked toothless.

Marc Bircham had a shot from the edge of the box but the only thing to get excited about was Ainsworth winning corners after his direct runs down the right. In the last few games Cook's delivery from corners has been brilliant but it was poor tonight with the Palace keeper easily dealing with out set pieces.

It was frustrating to see Moore come for a short corner every time, as a striker he really should have been in the box looking to score rather than wasted out wide. If we're going to pretend to do a short one send Doherty or Bircham over and get the striker in the middle.

Andy D'ursso got busy with his book and started flashing yellow cards. Furlong was booked for being punched in the bollocks whilst Bircham was lucky to stay on the pitch after pushing Morrison off the ball and then doing the same thing a minute later.

The second half dragged on and we never really looked like scoring, it was just a case of counting down the minutes until Langley came on. It was the 77th minute before that happened. Langley replaced Doherty whilst Stefan Moore went off to give Shabazz Baidoo a chance.

Baidoo offered a different option with a forward who can run off the ball and cause problems. Twice he almost got us level. The first time Dyer whipped a ball in for Baidoo but Ainsworth got in the way. Later on a good cross by Langley found Baidoo in the six-yard box but he turned his shot against the side netting. He'd done more in 7 minutes than Moore had done in 77.

Holloway then lost the plot a little by throwing Santos up front and bringing Evatt on. This meant Baidoo went wide, Langley went deep and Dyer was a third centre half. It was inevitable that it wouldn't work and Dowie pushed four men up front to get the third goal.

It some came after poor defending. Wayne Andrews looked offside but his shot was saved by Royce and Tom Soares had the simple task of finishing the chance off to make it 3-1. Loftus Road emptied out quickly as fans had seen enough. The Q Block who had been berating the rest of the stadium for a lack of loyalty were ironically first out the door.

A few boos at the final whistle and a few more when not one player bothered to come across and thank the fans who had stayed till the end.

All in all a pitiful performance by the players and a not to clever night for Holloway who has given his critics plenty of ammunition.

Whenever we are losing he seems to put Santos up front and I don't think it works. It would have made more sense to keep it as it was with Baidoo and Langley capable of opening up the Palace defence. Going 3 at the back was an invitation for Palace to hit us on the break and they could and should have had 6 by the end.

We did miss the injured players but the side we had out should have done better. Shittu was poor as were Bircham and Doherty who just don't work as a combination. I think we've got to try Langley in the middle at home.

Stefan Moore also had a very poor game and it was his lack of effort, which spoke volumes and probably pushed him right down the pecking order. The only player to come out with any credit was Ainsworth who fought for everything and never gave up which sadly can't be said of his team mates.