Gareth Ainsworth has a big job on his hands as he looks to guide Queens Park Rangers to survival, with the 49-year-old replacing Neil Critchley last month.

In fairness, they still sit seven points above the drop zone at this point but their form in recent months has been extremely worrying and it suggests that they may be sucked into the relegation battle.

This is a shocking situation for the club to be in considering they were sitting at the top of the table earlier in the campaign and looked like automatic promotion favourites at points during Michael Beale's tenure in the English capital.

 

 

But two managerial changes and a poor January transfer window has contributed to their current predicament and with this, it comes as no surprise that some of the club's key off-field figures including Director of Football Les Ferdinand have come under fire from their supporters on social media.

Ferdinand will be hoping Ainsworth can make a real difference in the coming weeks and months to reduce that criticism and keep the club in the division, with a few more wins potentially needed.

There are a few traps QPR's boss should avoid falling in to in his quest to achieve survival and we pick out just two of those below.

Focusing too much on the long term

Ainsworth told West London Sport that he has already identified some targets to pursue ahead of the summer, something that may please the supporters who will want their team to be as prepared for the transfer window as possible.

Looking at the long term can be a positive - but it can also be a curse in the club's current situation considering they sit just seven points above the drop zone.

Relegation may be unlikely at this point - but the 49-year-old simply can't let complacency creep in because they could be sucked right into this relegation battle if they can't turn around their form.

Failing to win a single league game in 2023, the focus has to be on the short term until they seal survival. After that, they can start ramping up preparations for the summer.

Looking at the short term won't just benefit QPR - but also Ainsworth who could potentially be dismissed if he fails to do enough between now and the end of the season.

Dropping key players to make a statement

It would very easy for Ainsworth to bring in Joe Gubbins for Rob Dickie because the latter has been very poor recently, something that will come as a surprise to many outsiders considering he has been linked with a move to the Premier League in the past.

However, Gubbins doesn't have a huge amount of experience at this level and this is why it would be a risk to bring him in.

If Ainsworth makes this bold call to replace Dickie and it doesn't work out for the best, that won't be ideal for the Rs because the ex-Reading man may not be able to respond too well if he's brought back in after being dropped.

Instead, the manager should be looking to work with the 27-year-old using his excellent man management skills, keeping faith in him and allowing him to improve whilst continuing to start games.

The same applies for many other players who are currently in a bad patch of form. When some of their sidelined players return, he will have the license to rotate more but whilst they are still in the midst of an injury crisis, he should be looking to keep faith in his more experienced players.

That could even help in the long term as well as the short term - because players like Dickie could be real assets for him in the future.