Queens Park Rangers boss Mark Warburton has sought to explain why certain players have been rested or subbed of late amid questions from some areas of the club's support.

The Hoops saw their fine run of form come to an end at the weekend as two late goals from Birmingham City secured the Blues all three points.

That came against a slightly changed QPR side to the one we've seen of late, with Warburton already on record before the game explaining that changes would be afoot as he manages his squad through this intense run of matches.

Indeed, ahead of the game against Barnsley on Wednesday evening, he again underlined that issue as he sought to explain why some players were being dropped or subbed at certain times.

Quoted by West London Sport, he said:

“It’s important to get the message across because supporters will naturally say ‘Keep him on. Why aren’t you playing him? Why isn’t he on for 90 minutes’? It’s because he can’t. We’ll lose them (to injury).

“I was delighted to get even a half out of Charlie on Saturday. It was touch-and-go whether he could even play. Likewise Stefan Johansen. Likewise Geoff Cameron.

“I looked after Lee Wallace because of the amount of miles he’d done and I wanted to make sure he was available for us.

“We really have to look after the players. We’re privy to information the supporters are not."

The Verdict

QPR went on a fine run of matches unbeaten before the Birmingham loss and used a largely unchanged side throughout that spell.

Warburton needs to manage the players' workloads now, though, and so we could see more rotation come into effect between now and the international break at the end of the month.

Up next, a Barnsley side in fine form and so whoever is fielded by the R's it will be a tough test.