Queens Park Rangers lost 5-3 away to Barnsley in the Championship at the weekend, ending a run of back-to-back wins for the West Londoners.

Mark Warburton's QPR had waited all season for a clean sheet and seven games for a win before picking up both against Preston the weekend before last, and then another at Birmingham in the week.

But all that hard work which had taken them to the mid-table perch going into the game at Oakwell was ruined by an abject performance in South Yorkshire.

Here we take a look at three lessons that QPR have learned from their defeat to Barnsley:

Four at the back is more effective than five

For whatever reason, Warburton changed from a back-four seen in both wins going into the game to a back-five, which has looked leaky on QPR all season.

Why he did this we don't know but it's clear now that a back-four is the way to go. Lee Wallace came into the side and slotted into the third centre-back position alongside Grant Hall and Toni Leistner.

Wallace had a pretty poor game though - his lack of pace was exposed against Barnsley before he was substituted before the hour-mark.

Luke Amos needs more license to roam

The Tottenham midfielder scored his first and second goals for the club on Saturday, and was the only saving grace for QPR on an otherwise dismal day out for the club.

He was twice in the right place at the right time to score two relatively simple goals. He often plays a more deeper role and whilst impressing in that position of late, he showed on Saturday that he needs to be given more attacking freedom in games.

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QPR are in need of a central player who can score goals - Amos has been one of their best players in the last few games and playing in a midfield-three on Saturday, was allowed to stray forward more often and showed how good he can be in that role.

No team can be underestimated in the Championship

After two good wins and two sturdy defensive performances, QPR may well have headed into the game against bottom-club Barnsley with a slight air of complacency.

They started the game notably more lax than they did the last two and paid for it when they fell behind after only seven-minutes.

Barnsley proved on Saturday though that the Championship is one of the most competitive, unpredictable leagues in the world - they'd not scored more than two goals in a game all season but took full advantage of a complacent QPR side, who were deserved of the loss that day.