TOMMY Smith has vowed lightning won't strike twice as he bids to secure promotion to the Premier League.

The QPR winger was at Watford in 2008 when the Horents blew a hefty lead at the top of the Championship to only just scrape into the play-off places.

Smith admits his former team-mates ran out of ideas as other teams sussed out their game plan.

But he has vowed the same won't happen at QPR after they stretched their lead at the top to five points with victory over promotion-rivals Cardiff City on Saturday.

Smith said: "We were one dimensional and teams figured out what we were doing. We had no back-up plan to counteract what teams were setting up against us.

"I think it's a very different story here. We can mix it and play a bit of football as well.

"It was really frustrating. It was only October or November and some people were thinking about the Premiership already. I think the lads got sucked in a little bit."

Smith insists Neil Warnock has got the players' feet firmly on the ground despite their unbeaten start to the season.

"It's okay for the fans to get carried away – they're top of the league so they should enjoy it," Smith added.

"But we've got a lot of experienced players. We know you can have a run of five or six games without winning so we're not getting carried away.

"We know we can't even look past Christmas at the moment."

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