John Gregory made two changes to the side that lost at the weekend to Coventry. Stefan bailey dropped to the bench with Rowlands starting in central midfield whilst Kevin Gallen returned up front with Nygaard missing out. There was also a welcome return for Paul Furlong on the bench for his first taste of first team football since April.

It was important for Rangers to get off to a good start after Saturdays performance but from the first minute it was clear that we just were a few steps behind Sunderland and struggled from the start. Sunderland's five-man midfield meant they dominated possession and with no recognised ball winner in midfield we rarely looked like winning the ball back. Graham Kavannagh was running the show in central midfield. Sunderland could have been 3-0 up inside ten minutes missing some great chances. Leadbitter was denied by Royce after getting space in the box and then Murphy twice missed sitters, the second of them coming when he was clean through but somehow put it wide.

At the other end a deflected Nick Ward shot was all we had to show as our approach play consisted of hoofing it high to Gallen or giving to Cook and crossing our fingers. Neither ploy worked and on the 15 minute mark we were a goal behind.

It was a controversial goal, which at the time looked several yards offside. Rangers half cleared a corner and the bal back in was sliced by Wallace to Murphy who looked at least five yards offside and he placed a header past Royce. Everyone went mad with the players arguing with the linesmen and the fans incensed by the decision but the goal stood and we were a goal behind. I couldn't believe the goal had been given and was one of many calling the linesmen a few things but it has to be said upon seeing the goal on TV it was a correct decision as Bignot had played Murphy on and it was onside.

It got worse a minute later when a Lee Cook free kick was headed in by Blackstock only for the flag to go up this time and rule out the goal just as pig bag was playing most of the stadium were celebrating an equaliser.

The fans were unforgiving and the scenes turned ugly when Sunderland won another corner in front of the R block and some moron threw a bottle of water at the linesmen. The lino looked unsettled by it all and Uriah Rennie made things worse by just standing there with the bottle and not really doing anything. The players all looked confused and as this all went on another prat threw a bottle of water at the lino which this time got a cheer from some other morons in that section of the stadium. This isn't the first time this has happened and won't be the last unless something is done about it. The club deserve to be punished for this latest disgraceful moment. In recent years we've had coins, bottles, pies even programmes throw onto the pitch and it really has to be stopped. The club need to come out and condemn the idiots involved otherwise this is just going to continue.

Anyway back to the game and it was pretty dire stuff. We had a few chances to draw level as Gallen headed wide from a Smith corner and Blackstock's shot was saved but it was a pretty woeful performance all round and Sunderland were so comfortable it was embarrassing. To make matters worse Lee Cook went down with a rib injury and was clearly struggling through the final minutes of the half where he bizarrely played as a right-winger.

Five minutes f injury time were announced mainly due to the moron bottle throwers and ironically Sunderland used it to their advantage to wrap the game up. Four minutes into them Leaditter was put clean through as the defence all stopped and looked at each other as he ran through to go round Royce and tap into an empty net. 2-0 to Sunderland and it was no more than the visitors deserved.

John Gregory must have been fuming at half time and will have demanded an improved performance in the second half at the very least. That wasn't made easy due to Lee Cook having to come off injured. Ray Jones came on with a switch in tactics seeing Gallen move back into midfield, Rowlands onto the right and Ward onto the left. I think we were trying to play a diamond midfield but it really didn't work. The same problems were evident though as we couldn't win the ball back quickly and despite having a mare on Saturday we needed Stefan Bailey on to offer a bit of fight.

The second half was pretty dull with Rangers not having much of a clue how to break Sunderland down and the visitors happy to catch us on the break which they did several times. Leadbitter missed a very easy chance when clean through to make the scoreline safe for Sunderland.

Rangers offered next to nothing as an attacking threat and looked all over the place in midfield. Gallen was just knocking high balls to the centre half to head away and the two wide players couldn't have looked less interested. Still we managed to find a goal through the only decent passing move we managed all night.

Nick Ward, who was starting to get some stick from the crowd after a woeful cross into the upper loft, played a big role in getting us back in the game. Gallen, Rowlands and Bignot worked the ball well to find Ward and the Australian played a wonderful pass to Jones who turned well and passed the ball into the bottom corner.

The crowd were up for it now and urging the team on but we failed to build on the goal to be honest and didn't really look like nicking an equaliser. Gregory brought on Paul Furlong for Blackstock who got a great reception but it was perhaps a bit much to ask him to roll back the years after being out for so long.

Sunderland really should have made the game safe but Wallace missed two sitters. The worst of the two from his point of view was from a quick break and the ball found him unmarked with an open goal to aim at but he somehow put it wide, which gave everyone a good laugh.

Injury time saw Rangers push everyone forward but we couldn't break then down. Nick Ward almost made a name for himself with the last kick of the game as he fired in a low shot, which was well saved, but in truth we deserved nothing from the game and Sunderland celebrated a deserved victory.

Sunderland should have won by 4 or 5 in the end. I thought we were crap, worst performance of the season by a long way and as for the morons throwing bottles they should be banned. It's hard to pick any positives out of the game.

The referee was useless but no point blaming him when our performance didn't merit any kind of positive result. Royce was poor in goal and the back four were very poor as a unit. Stewart was just about the pick of the defenders but still had a poor game. The midfield was the biggest disappointment. Jimmy Smith was almost invisible whilst Rowlands produced his worst performance in a QPR shirt, he never got going and can play so much better than that. Cook did ok but can't be expected to do it all on his own and I felt a bit sorry for Ward who is not a winger and is not being done any favours by being played out wide. He did produce the one moment of quality in the game so hopefully a move back into the middle can help him improve.

The forwards had no real service all game but didn't really play that well. Gallen never got going and was woeful in midfield whilst Blackstock seemed to be carrying a knock. Jones and took his goal well but didn't do a great deal after that.

All in all it was woeful and Gregory will have learnt a lot about his side in the last few days. Away trips to the improving Crystal Palace and in form Stoke are next up for Rangers and they won't be easy as we start to slip down the table again. This can all be turned round quickly though. We need Bircham and Lomas back fit but if they don't make it I'd get Bailey back in the middle and move Rowlands out wide. Hopefully Cook's injury is not too bad and he'll be fit for the weekend, as without him we look a poor side.

Man of the Match: Lee Cook

Players Ratings: Royce 5, Mancienne 5, Bignot 6, Stewart 6, Rehmann 5, Ward 5, Smith 5, Rowlands 5, Cook 7 (Jones 6), Gallen 5, Blackstock 5 (Furlong 6)