The month of October has been a turbulent time for everyone involved at Loftus Road.

A turgid run of form on the field, totalling seven games without a league win was magnified by the big news surrounding Financial Fair Play, with the Hoops losing an arbitration claim against a fine in the regions of tens of millions of pounds for breaching the EFL rules, leading the team into the break both battered and bruised.

You can't help but feel that having the international break to regroup may just what the doctor ordered.

It's by no means been a bad week, but the highs of back-to-back victories over Wolves and Sheffield United were swiftly wiped away with Saturday's 4-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest.

Those victories at Loftus Road papered over the cracks of what was happening off the field, but the heavy defeat to Forest has brought a real dose of reality to everyone around the club.

Credit where it's due, the team have done an excellent job of maintaining their focus through this time, but you can't help but feel that the break has come at the ideal time for Ian Holloway and his squad to get their heads down and focus on the next step.

It'll be a welcome situation, with the September break coming at a terrible time after an excellent start to the season, while the October break came after five winless games, meaning the feeling at Harlington will no doubt have been high-pressure.

This time, a mixed run of form could be ideal to allow Ian Holloway to decide where the team goes next.

It won't be too long until the likes of James Perch and Nedum Onuoha are back in contention, and attention must now turn entirely to a difficult run of fixtures leading up to Christmas; a spell which will go a long way to deciding where QPR sit in the fluid nature of the Championship table.