Rangers travelled to Sheffield Wednesday with the home side having sacked their manager after a heavy defeat at Colchester (sounds familiar).

Wednesday fans staged a protest before the game against the chairman calling for Paul Sturrock to return so it was inevitable that a club in crisis would beat us as Wednesday ran out 3-2 winners at Hillsborough today.

Rangers were unchanged from the side that lost at home to Derby on Tuesday, which came as a surprise considering the way we defended during that game.

We started the game well with Lee Cook creating all of our chances. He had an early chance beating two players before shooting but the keeper made a good save to concede the corner. Cook was the architect again as he did well on the left and delivered a cross for Blackstock but his header was straight at the keeper.

Rangers looked comfortable and confident and were knocking the ball around well but as we have learnt in recent weeks we are never far away from a defensive cock up and another one handed Wednesday the lead.

A mistake by Jimmy Smith led to the opening goal as he gave the ball away in midfield to Burton who played a ball through to Tudgay to run into and Rangers were unable to stop him sliding the ball into the bottom corner.

The goal was a big set back for Rangers and we struggled to keep Wednesday out as the home side visibly grew in confidence. Damion Stewart did well to nick the ball away from Burton just as it looked like Burton was going to head past Jones whilst Brunt went close with a free kick.

Ray Jones went close on a rare counter attack as he fired in a powerful shot, which was well saved by the keeper. It was an open game but the home side looked more like scoring especially with our inability to clear our lines. It wasn't all down to the defence as the midfield failed to keep possession with Jimmy Smith and Martin Rowlands well below their best form.

An injury to Marc Bircham forced a change as he limped off in first half injury time to be replaced by loan signing Michael Mancienne. The youngster was called the new John Terry on the QPR official web site last week but he made a poor start conceding a needless corner with his first touch and then within a minute we were 2-0 down. Mancienne was beaten on the left and the cross was missed by Jones and Tudgay had the simple task of heading into the net to virtually kill the game off.

The half time whistle went soon after and yet again poor defending had cost Rangers as went in at the break two goals behind. John Gregory will have said a few strong words at half time and Rangers came out a different side and were soon back in the game.

Cook again was the main man for Rangers tearing Wednesday apart on the left and he created a goal to bring us back into the game. A good run and cross down the left found Blackstock in the middle and he smashed his shot past the keeper to give us hope.

Wednesday were panicking and within three minutes we were back level. It was the same combination again as Cook went down the left and picked out a perfect cross for Blackstock to head past the keeper and make it 2-2. The Rangers fans were in dreamland as they celebrated and we looked set to go on and win the game at this stage.

Another injury forced Gregory into a second change. This time it was Rowlands who was taken off and Nick Ward was brought on and the Australian International made an immediate impact giving the ball away which led to a third goal for the home side.

This time though the referee seemed more to blame than Rangers as MacLean broke through but made the wrong decision in trying to go round Paul Jones and the QPR keeper looked to have won the ball as the Wednesday man collapsed to the floor. The ref fell for the dive and gave the penalty much to the disgust of the Rangers players. Jones was booked when most keepers would have been sent off but that just about summed up the incompetent official.

MacLean got to his feet and took the penalty sending Jones the wrong way to make it 3-2.

The goal knocked the stuffing out of Rangers as the home side began to dominate and it took some desperate defending and a goal line clearance from Cook to keep us in the game.

Kevin Gallen came on late for Bignot as we went 3-4-3 and threw everything at the home side. Lee Cook had two late chances to equalise with shots from the edge of the box but both times he was unable to beat the keeper and Rangers went home with nothing from a game they would have been looking to win.

This is a disappointing result for Rangers and shoves us right back into the relegation dog fight. Even at this early stage of the season every point is vital and Gregory will be disappointed to have taken nothing from this game.

Looking at the positives to start with it is great to see Lee Cook playing with such confidence and when he plays like this there are not too many better left sided players in the division. Dexter Blackstock will also be delighted to have got on the score sheet with two goals. He's still a very young player and is under pressure to deliver goals for Rangers this season and so far he hasn't disappointed and looks to be getting better with ever game he plays.

Once again it was poor defending which has hurt us. The central defensive combination of Stewart and Rehmann just doesn't work. Neither are good enough and the decision to bring in these two to replace Danny Shittu was a hopeless one, which we are going to struggle to come back from. The return from injury of Pat Kanyuka can't come quickly enough but the blame can't all be thrown at the defence.

They do need protection and in the last few games they haven't really got that. Bircham has got back into his old habit of trying to push forward rather than sitting in front of the back four and when he plays alongside Jimmy Smith we are left with larges gaps in behind us and when they lose possession one pass like for the first and third goal will leave the back four exposed and they are not good enough to cope with that. In Gregory's first two games he went with Bailey and Bircham who protected the back four well and we looked quite solid. Jimmy Smith looks an excellent prospect and no doubt since he's come in we've scored a few more goals but away from home we perhaps need a little more steel in the middle of the park rather than four midfield players who are desperate to get forward.

All of Rangers problems can be fixed though and this is far from the hopeless situation it looked a month or so ago. It will take time for Gregory to get things right but he does need to sort out the defensive side quickly otherwise we will slip back into the bottom three. I'd like to see Mancienne start at right back next week and it might be time for Simon Royce to return. Paul Jones has been a wonderful shot stopper this season but he stays rooted to his line far too often, which can't be giving the defence much confidence. When we have a back four as poor as ours at heading away crosses you need a keeper to come out and claim the ball or win a free kick in the process and Jones just hasn't been doing that recently.

Next up for Rangers is Leicester City at home next week and that really is a game we need to collect the three points from before a tough looking November.

Man of the Match: Lee Cook

Players Ratings from Tracy Stent as posted on www.qpr.org and QPR Yahoo Mailing List

Paul Jones: Nothing he could do about any of the goals and was really unlucky regarding the penalty. 7

Marcus Bignot: Got done a few times in the first half but was much improved in the second and at least seemed to know when he needed to close down etc. 7.

Damion Stewart: Looks low on confidence. Looked panicky on occasions today. > Not a good day at the office for him this afternoon. 5

Zesh Rehman: See above for Stewart. 5

Steve Lomas: Mixed feelings about him. Wasn't closing down and sticking to his man when he should have done but did get some clearances and useful headers in. I still wouldn't play him in defence when we have Matty Rose sitting on the bench. Also, I noticed when he moved to the central midfield area he had a tendancy to keep shaking his head at others' mistakes. Not exactly a world beater yourself Stevie boy! 6.5

Martin Rowlands: Not one of his better days with his shooting miles offf this afternoon, and he seemed slower and had a tendancy to keep trying to play backwards. However, when he is on the pitch there is always the possibility that things will happen and when he went off it was no coincidence imo that we then began to struggle again.

Marc Bircham: Poor old Birch. A few misplaced passes this afternoon. Lots of commitment none the less and he had to go off just before half time so who knows what might have happened had he taken part in the game in the second half following the manager's half time team talk?

Jimmy Smith: There was an article about him in today's sun and it's surely no coincidence that once a player gets picked up on in newspaper articles,he promptly goes on to have a quieter game? This is exactly what happened with Jimmy today, though in the second half we did see more of him and he > seemed to enjoy a few quick passes between himself, Mancienne and Cook. 7.

Lee Cook: Spectacular first 10 minute spell, then he went quiet (mainly because the rest of them fell apart for the next 30 minutes) then he picked up again for the last 10 minutes. In the second half he quite literally scared the living daylights out of the Wednesday defence and it was down to his work and assists that led to our goals. If he continues with this type of form then I doubt we'll see a more quick and skillful left winger in the championship this year. He also took on the opposition this afternoon which I think says quite a bit about how his confidence seems to have hit form too. 9.

Dexter Blackstock: Quiet first half, although having said that he could have had a brace within the first 10 minutes! In the second half he linked up well with Cook and he and Jones seem to be learning hwo to play their own space without getting into each others' way, as was happening a few times in previous games. Good two goals for him this afternoon which will boost his confidence too. 8.

Ray Jones: Some nice little lay offs and flick ons from young Ray today. The > only thing is his confidence might be a tad low. 7.

Subs:

Michael Mancienne: Came on for Birch, and with the game 1-0 at the time to Wednesday, it was a difficult time for the lad to come on, this was proved so when he showed a lack of either concetration or fitness even when he made a rather poor attempt to clear a ball which could have led to all sorts of problems. In the second half though he came into his own more, and playing in the right back role also gave us the opportunity to see him going forward a bit when supporting Rowlands, and there was some nice, quick passes between himself, Smith and Cook at one point. 7.

Nick Ward: Poor old Wardy. Nightmare one minute spell which I guess indicates as to how different the football in this country is to the type he has been used to playing in his homeland. There is no time to linger on the ball in this country but I guess he'll learn this in time. 5.

Kevin Gallen: Didn't have time to see much of Kev so unfair to score.