Ian Holloway admitted the introductions of Matt Smith and Conor Washington sprung Queens Park Rangers into life at Aston Villa on Tuesday.

After they trailed to Jonathan Kodjia's early goal, which turned out to be the winner after just five minutes, it was a flat first half from the Hoops.

It took them around 15 minutes to get going, before Smith was brought on first and had a headed chance which went past the post, before Washington came on and added pace and trickery up top.

Ian Holloway spoke to the London press post-match at Aston Villa

Holloway's change of tactics clearly worked, but with Brighton and Hove Albion coming up on Friday night at Loftus Road, he's going to have to get it right from the off.

"In the second half we got better and better but couldn't break their defence, so we ended up losing," said the boss.

"But if that's a performance, I'll take that all day long.

"I think the switch of tactics helped us. We went 4-2-3-1 and because Steve Bruce saw us play the 4-3-3, he wanted to push his full-backs in with us.

"Whoever came short, that left a channel, and Yeni Ngbakato ran into it a couple of times and we regained confidence.

"Then we had Matt Smith who is so good in the air, he terrifies people, he's a fantastic player.

"Some people think he's just good in the air, he's got all sorts of other abilities, and Conor Washington is in a great place because he believes that Matt is helping him.

"Conor is running freely, but unfortunately we ran out of time.

"I just felt the togetherness of the team we played against was really solid, their supporters got a little frustrated but they didn't turn on their team.

"They get the win and it's a long way from where we want to be, but at the end of the day our performance is what is important."