Queens Park Rangers boss Mark Warburton has played down talk of the side making the automatic promotion places.
QPR moved to within four points of Blackburn Rovers, who currently occupy second place in the table, following the side’s 0-0 draw with 10-man Swansea City last night.
The Hoops also have a game in hand on Tony Mowbray’s side. They are now also only one point behind third place Bournemouth.
While it was a disappointing result, QPR’s recent form has got people wondering if a top two finish is likely this season. However, Warburton has claimed he isn’t interested in discussing his side’s chances just yet.
“It’s just noise. We know we are a good team, not in an arrogant way, there are many good teams in the division and we know we are one of them,” said Warburton, via the club’s official website.
“But it is about one game at a time and right now everything is geared towards Reading. That has to be the focus. If you start thinking three, four or five games ahead then you get hurt very quickly.”
Last night’s draw ended QPR’s four game winning run in the league that stretched back to December 30.
They had beaten Bristol City, Birmingham City, West Brom and Coventry City in succession, which brought them closer to the out-of-form Bournemouth while keeping pace with high-flying Blackburn.
The victory over West Brom also saw Warburton’s side leapfrog the Baggies in the table.
Next up for QPR is the visit of Reading on January 29.
The Verdict
There are still so many games left in the season that Warburton is right to rubbish talk of promotion.
QPR are in excellent form currently, but the league can be so volatile and unpredictable that everything can change again within another few weeks.
Disappointing results like the one against Swansea are the type that a side needs to avoid to claim a stake at automatic promotion.
Warburton’s men will need to keep up their fine form for another 19 matches before they can start to think about potentially playing Premier League football next season.