WE NEEDED TO GRAFT -Gareth Ainsworth
Winger Gareth Ainsworth believes QPR's 1-0 victory over Coventry at the Ricoh Arena was the club's "most important win of the season".
Rangers survived heavy first-half pressure to claim victory after the break thanks to Jimmy Smith's 53rd-minute strike, his sixth of the season since arriving on loan from Chelsea in September.
But prior to half-time, it had been another Hoops loanee, goalkeeper Lee Camp, who had kept the Sky Blues at bay with a sequence of fine saves.
The Loftus Road club had gone into the weekend 20th but moved to 19th on the back of victory.
Ainsworth said: "Winning at Coventry is the most important result of the season.
"But it will mean nothing if we cannot get a result at home to Luton on Monday.
The Luton game is a six-pointer. It was always going to be a 1-0 against Coventry.
"We've been doing a lot of fitness work in training, so we are strong in the second half of games and that is especially important over this busy period.
"By the time we have played Luton we will have played four games in 10 days, which is crazy. That's why you need grafters.
"Pretty football will get you promotion but it will not keep you up."
Coventry boss Iain Dowie was left to reflect on back-to-back defeats for the first time since he was appointed in February.
Ahead of Monday's clash with leaders Derby, he said: "I cannot wait for the next game because our last two performances have not shown what we are about.
"We usually play high-tempo, high-energy, pass-and-move football but we did not show enough of that against QPR.
"QPR did not come and dominate us, they scrapped and scrapped and sucked us into a style of football we did not want to be playing.
"It was a disappointing display and that was something I did not see coming.
"Our last two performances have been below par and I do not accept that is because players feel the season is over.
"We want to finish in the top half of the table and as the form team in the division."
