After Tuesdays hard fought draw at West Brom, Rangers had a London derby to look forward to as struggling Crystal Palace came to Loftus Road. John Gregory was able to name an unchanged starting eleven as Ray Jones again missed out after he turned down a first professional contract and it's a real shame that this issue is robbing the youngster of a first team place. Still Jones absence has given Kevin Gallen a chance and he started his first game at Loftus Road since August in a game Rangers really needed to win.

The main objective for Rangers was to avoid conceding another early goal and from the start the team looked determined to keep things tight early on with both sides feeling each other out in the opening minutes. Gareth Ainsworth fired a volley high over the bar with Rangers first chance of the game before Blackstock went close to opening the scoring after good work out wide by Ainsworth found the young striker and his effort was well saved by the keeper.

Palace almost got that dreaded early goal through McAnuff as he cut in on the left and unleashed a shot but Royce was equal to it. Rangers got through the opening ten minutes without conceding and the confidence seemed to grow in the side as we pushed forward and controlled the game. Lee Cook was at his dazzling best on the left again and his dribbling was causing panic in the Palace defence. He left two defenders in his wake before having a shot, which Finders parried, and the rebound was cleared.

It was all Rangers as we kept the ball well and dominated the midfield but as we know a defensive cock up is never far away and Palace soon benefited from some shoddy defending from Rehmann. A ball out wide saw McAnuff get away from Mancienne and he cut inside, the danger could and should have been avoided as Rehmann strolled back and had the chance to get across and either clatter McAnuff or force him out wide but he chose to just stand and let him run into space and the young winger played a low cross into the six yard box for Tom Soares to poke past Royce and make it 1-0. So yet another Rehmann mistake leads to a goal and the young defender was getting a fair amount of stick from the Rangers fans.

One thing you can be sure of with this Rangers team though is they won't give up and we always gave goals in us so it was no real surprise to see us draw level within a few minutes and when the goal came it was a stunning effort. Gallen and Blackstock combined in the middle to lay the ball off to Jimmy Smith and he caught the ball on the volley and the ball flew into the top corner giving the keeper no chance. Smith had bee quiet up until then but yet again he treated the crowd with a stunning goal. I said to Carly after the goal that Smith doesn't score tap ins which he must have heard as that's exactly what he did in the second half.

More of that later though and the goal saw the fans get right behind the team but the team looked a little nervous about throwing everything forward and seemed happy to go in level at half time. With the clock running down we still had time to gift Palace a second goal with more poor defending. This time though the finger of blame should go to the manager and coaching staff rather than the players. This bloody zonal marking rubbish reared it's heard again and gifted Palace the lead.

A corner on the left saw every QPR player back stand marking space on the edge of the six-yard box. The Palace players all stood in a bunch on the edge f the box unmarked and when the ball came over Leon Cort was able to run onto the ball unchallenged and head the ball goal wards, Royce parried the effort but Morrison was first to the rebound and knocked the ball over the line with what looked like a handball but it happened so quickly it was hard for the referee to spot it. We really have to get rid of this zonal marking system. We just gave the opportunity to Cort to have a nice run from the edge of the box to meet the ball with power. When we attack you'd never see our players all unmarked at a corner in the same way we defended for that second goal.

At half time the feeling was one of doom and gloom that all the good work going forward was being undone by basic defensive errors. We still looked like scoring again though and with teams around us winning we began to worry that we could be in big trouble come quarter to five.

We needn't have worried though as Rangers came out full of purpose and took the game to Palace from the first kick of the second half.

Lee Cook was the main man for us weaving his magic on the left and he went close to drawing us level after good work by Blackstock found Cook and his curling effort was just wide of the post. The crowd were right behind the team now and it was a great atmosphere at Loftus Road but it was almost game over when Palace missed a great chance to kill the game off.

Shefki Kuqi found space in the box and had the whole goal to aim at but put it straight at Royce and wasted a great chance to win the game for Palace. Palace were made to pay as Rangers produced a scintillating ten minutes of football to win the game.

As ever it was Lee Cook at the heart of it all as he supplied a dangerous whipped cross which Palace struggled to clear and the ball fell to Lomas who was quick to swing a leg at the ball and fire a shot past the keeper to grab an equaliser to send the Rangers fans into ecstatic celebrations. It was a goal Lomas deserved, he played the game carrying an injury and did a brilliant job for the team.

Palace went straight on the attack but Damion Stewart did well to clear from Morrison and send Rangers on the attack again. Cook was going past players as if they weren't there whilst the front two were working their socks off. Blackstock in particular was covering so much ground and causing all sorts of problem. His link up play with Gallen also improved as the game wore on and they look like they could develop into a decent partnership.

Rangers then took the lead thanks to an outrageous piece of skill from Lee Cook. Cook got the ball on the left with two men on his and the winger had his back to goal. Cook kept the ball at his feet and in one movement he dragged the ball in-between the two and turned to leave them both stood and wondering what had happened. Cook sprinted into the box and Butterfield had no choice really but to pull him down for a clear penalty and was lucky to escape a second yellow card. It was a wonderful moment of skill from Cook and something we are getting used to with him. At the moment he is by far out best player and an absolute joy to watch.

Kevin Gallen grabbed the ball for the penalty and never looked like missing as he strolled up to the ball and sent the keeper the wrong way to roll the ball into the bottom corner. The players and fans celebrated and the win was secured a few minutes later. A corner on the right saw Cook run over to take it and receive a standing ovation from the Q, P and R blocks. Cook clenched his fists and looked pumped up and he sent the crowd wild as his fantastic delivery from the corner caused havoc and allowed Jimmy Smith to tap in from close range and seal the three points for Rangers. Surely even Rangers couldn't lose a game after scoring four goals.

Palace had a few chances to get back in the game but the woeful Clinton Morrison wasted them all and Peter Taylor must be wondering how much money he has to spend to get a decent side. Kevin Gallen was replaced by Marc Nygaard to try and keep things fresh up front but the game was all over with Palace having given up.

Dexter Blackstock was agonisingly close to a fifth goal when he turned and left Ward for dead before firing a shot to the bottom corner which was well saved by the keeper.

When the attendance of 13,000 was announced most fans were trying to see where on earth the 6,000 empty seats were and Palace fans made that a little easier as the majority of them left with ten minutes to go.

The final whistle saw the team earn a standing ovation and it was well earned. The win moves us above Palace and gives us a five point cushion over the bottom three but if we keep attacking like this then relegation is not going to be an issue for us.

At the back we still have problems with Rehmann showing no sign of improvement and he really needs to be replaced for his own good as well as the teams. Damion Stewart was much improved though and did well in the second half. The two full backs also had decent games.

In midfield Ainsworth gave his all and have a good game whilst Lomas was excellent in the holding role. Jimmy Smith has grabbed the headlines and produced his best performance so far and his first goal will be remembered for a long time.

Blackstock and Gallen also played well but all the plaudits should be going to Lee Cook who was sensational yet again. That turn for the penalty was the highlight of the season for me so far, it was an outrageous piece of skill that I haven't seen from a QPR player since Jerome Thomas was here on loan. Only shame was we don't sing his name enough instead having loads of time singing about bouncing up and down and Mourinhio being gay. After the game there was plenty of talk in the pub about when we are going to sell him but I'd rather just enjoy watching Cook whilst we have him as he is a special player at the moment with the skill and dribbling of Trevor Sinclair at his best and the assist rate of Andy Sinton at his best. I can't praise Cook enough at the moment.

So a great win for Rangers and if we can build on this and get something at Luton next week we'll hopefully be able to pull away from the relegation battle in the coming weeks.

Man of the Match: Lee Cook

Players Ratings: Royce 7, Mancienne 7, Bignot 7, Rehmann 5, Stewart 6, Ainsworth 7, Lomas 8, Smith 8 (Ward 6), Cook 9, Gallen 8 (Nygaard 7), Blackstock 8