A really bad afternoon – Michael Beale unhappy with QPR display at Luton

QPR manager Michael Beale labelled it a “really bad afternoon” as his side missed the chance to go top of the Championship following a 3-1 defeat at Luton.

The Hatters led in the first half through Elijah Adebayo before Jimmy Dunne’s own goal made it 2-0 with 13 minutes left.

Although Rangers pulled one back in stoppage time, Luke Freeman wrapped the win up against his former side.

Beale said: “It was a really bad afternoon. I thought Carlton Morris in particular first half was very good, we didn’t get to grips with him.

“We spoke in the week about how the game would look, so we were very clear what was coming, but I thought their two centre-forwards gave my two centre-halves some issues.

“We went with Leon Balogun at right-back, he goes and gets injured in the very first challenge of the game.

“The start of the second half, we reacted well to the conversation we had, we just changed to a back three and we were the team in the ascendancy.

“We hit the bar and I suppose for me that’s what the game hinges on, as straight after we go and make a mistake and lose Jimmy in that one bit of play.

“But I’m not going to sit here and bash my players, I’m just going to look for the response on Wednesday evening.”

It was Adebayo who broke the deadlock in the 19th minute when he stooped to head home from a yard out after Morris’ cross.

The forward saw another header hit the inside of the post before the break, while visiting defender Jake Clarke-Salter crashed against the bar from close range after the interval.

Allan Campbell was denied by a wonderful save from Seny Dieng, before Town boss Nathan Jones’ triple substitution worked a treat, with Cameron Jerome forcing an error and Dieng’s clearance hammering against Dunne to go in.

Late on, Town keeper Ethan Horvath was unfortunate to see the ball rebound in off his back when Sonny Bradley flicked a cross against the bar, but Luton averted any comeback as substitute Harry Cornick found fellow replacement Freeman to tap home.

Jones, who saw his side beat their West London opponents in the league for the first time since January 2006, added: “I thought right from the off, Elijah wins that first header, then we knock the centre-half over, and that set the tone of the game.

“First half we were really aggressive, we hit the bar, had a load of good situations and with a little bit more composure and quality, we could have gone in a bit further up.

“But we know these are a tough side to play against, they really are.

“They came out, they had a bit of play, I still think we had the best chances, because we had one cleared off the line and even when they did score it was an element of fortune to it in terms of we should have cleared, but overall, a wonderful, wonderful performance.

“You know you’ve got to play well as QPR are a good side, Mick’s doing a great job there and they have tricky players, players who can hurt you. But I thought today we defended well and were magnificent.”