HARRY Redknapp identified the half-time departure of Bobby Zamora as the main reason for his side losing their way after a hugely impressive first 44 minutes against Aston Villa.
A goal out of the blue just before the break from Gaby Agbonlahor turned the game on its head, but the QPR boss still believes the loss of his striker was every bit as significant.
“I lost Bobby at half time and that was a real blow for us,” Redknapp said.
“When he came off, I thought it would give us a problem. We never had that focal point to hold the ball up after that. He holds the ball, brings people into play and makes such a difference to us.
“But he was struggling and had to come off. He's had the flu. He's been ill and hasn't trained all week. We patched him up, but he felt rough at half time.
“Rob Green was also ill and had to go home this morning. He was up all night with a virus. There's been a bit of a bug around.”
Rangers could conceivably have been out of sight before the interval, with Chris Samba twice forcing Brad Guzan into great one-handed saves, and Loic Remy doing the same with a drive from the edge of the box. Jose Bosingwa also hit a post from a free-kick.
“I think if we'd come in 4-0 up at half time, it would have been about right,” Redknapp said.
“It was the best I've seen them play first half. I thought we were fantastic. It was so one-sided, it was unbelievable really, the way we dominated them..
“But we've thrown it away from where we were. It knocked us for six that goal [before half-time]. I thought we should have dealt with it better. Suddenly they've got a lift after being absolutely awful first half. They came in at one-all and probably couldn't believe their luck.”
The QPR boss added: “It's one of those days. What can you do? We can't feel sorry four ourselves. You've got to keep going, haven't you. It's going to be hard, but there's still games to go. If we keep playing well, we can win four or five games. I think we can.
“It's hard to know how many wins we need now. You're probably looking at four wins and two draws. It's going to be hard, but not impossible. I'm not giving up. We've had a setback today but bounced back before.”
