Queens Park Rangers beat Derby County 2-1 in the Championship last night.

The R's welcomed the Rams and Wayne Rooney last night, as they looked to continue their mini upturn in form. It was a clash between two sides vying for a mid-table spot and it was open throughout, but it was QPR who struck first, Grant Hall firing home his fourth goal of the season.

The 28-year-old had only scored the one league goal in four seasons for QPR but he's proven prolific this time round, and the opener last night, smashing off the underside of the bar was the pick of the bunch.

Martyn Waghorn levelled for Derby just before the break with his 12th of the season, before Ilias Chair scored the winner, two minutes after coming off the bench and with 15 left to play in the second-half.

Here we take a look a three things Mark Warburton will have learned about his side after last night:

Top-half contenders

Four games ago, after QPR's 2-0 defeat at Huddersfield, fans were fearing of a slippery slope towards the relegation zone. Goals were drying up and the players looked shot of confidence but last night, QPR looked as fluid and exciting as ever, and looked every bit a contender for a top-half finish this season.

That's the Championship though - one good run and your team fly up the table, one bad and relegation fears sink in. QPR leapfrogged all of Derby, Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday into 12th-place last night - if QPR can finish the season there or thereabouts, it'll be an undeniably huge achievement for Warburton.

Best defensive set-up?

QPR haven't been renowned for their defensive stability this season, but over the past four games now they've kept two clean sheets, and kept Derby relatively at bay last night. They had as many shots (15) as QPR but didn't really have a clear cut chance until one fell to Waghorn in injury time.

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The defensive cracks are still there but QPR are making definite strides towards being a much more rounded team, and Warburton is starting to find that right blend of youth experience in his defence.

Yoann Barbet has been integral since returning to the side, and Hall continues to do the business.

Super sub Chair

Ilias Chair hasn't started in four matches now. The 22-year-old has clear ability but has sat out in place of the more experienced Marc Pugh of late. The veteran winger has been performing well but when Chair comes on, he really lifts the whole team.

Whether he's better off as a super-sub or from the start, Chair is coming good for QPR of late with two goals of the bench in his last three, including the winner last night.

The problem for Warburton is that he has so many good players in the attacking department that at least one is going to have to miss out, but Chair remains focused and is putting in a real case to start against Birmingham at the weekend.