Queens Park Rangers' hopes of securing a top-six finish in the Championship were dealt a decisive blow yesterday as they suffered defeat at the hands of Stoke City.
The R's would have been hoping to back up their recent victory over Derby County by securing a positive result at the bet365 Stadium.
However, QPR were far from their best in this fixture as Stoke made a bright start to proceedings.
After Lewis Baker, Tommy Smith and Romaine Sawyers all went close to opening the scoring, the Potters took the lead on the stroke of half-time as Jacob Brown fired an effort past goalkeeper Keiren Westwood.
Following the break, Westwood denied Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Josh Maja before George Thomas hit the post for the visitors.
Unable to find an equaliser in the closing stages of the game, the R's are now six points adrift of the play-off places with two games left to play this season.
Here, we have decided to reflect on yesterday's game by taking a look at three things we clearly learnt about QPR after their 1-0 defeat to Stoke...
QPR have to focus on strengthening their squad depth this summer
Whereas QPR have not been helped by the fact that they have recently lost the likes of Chris Willock, Rob Dickie, David Marshall and Moses Odubajo to season-ending injuries, their lack of squad depth has played a role in their recent demise.
In order to move forward as a club later this year, the R's will need to sign a number of players this summer who know exactly what it takes to achieve success in this particular decision.
Whether current boss Mark Warburton is involved in recruiting some fresh faces remains to be seen as his current contract at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium is set to expire at the end of the season.
The R's failure to keep clean-sheets will need to be addressed
Whereas it is fair to say that QPR have lacked creativity in the Championship since Willock's injury setback, they have also been incredibly underwhelming in a defensive sense in their recent fixtures.
But for Westwood's array of saves yesterday, the R's could have lost by a bigger margin to Stoke who are now only two points behind them in the Championship.
When you consider that QPR have failed to keep a clean-sheet in six of their last seven league games, it is fair to say that their defensive woes will need to be addressed in the upcoming transfer window.
QPR's upcoming clash with Sheffield United is now a must-win
Although QPR's hopes of reaching the play-offs are now incredibly slim, they will still mathematically remain in contention for a top-six finish if they beat Sheffield United on Friday.
The R's know that they could be in for a tough evening against the Blades as Paul Heckingbottom's side sealed a 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture earlier this month at Bramall Lane.
With QPR knowing that they simply have to win this game, it will be intriguing to see whether they opt to take the game to a Blades outfit who have kept five clean-sheets in their last eight league games.