Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Queens Park Rangers: Paul Smyth header earns QPR Championship victory at Blackburn

Off the back of an impressive 3-2 win over Hull on Saturday, QPR started on the front foot in Lancashire – although they were forced into a first-half change in goal when Ben Hamer collided with team-mate Steve Cook and was unable to continue.

Chair was denied by a sharp save from Blackburn goalkeeper Aynsley Pears, Kristi Montgomery blocked Karamoko Dembele’s goalbound shot behind for a corner and Jonathan Varane headed a Chair corner over the top.

Koki Saito was at the heart of the visitors’ attacking threat and could have had a penalty after he skipped past Blackburn defender Lewis Miller and went down in the box as QPR dominated first-half proceedings.

However, with their first attack of note, Blackburn should have hit the front on 41 minutes.

Ryoya Morishita flashed in a cross from the right after some tidy build-up play, but Andri Gudjohnsen – Rovers’ match-winner against Preston on Friday – was unable to hit the target having got ahead of his marker.

The hosts improved after the half-time break, playing with more intensity and attacking intent, but Gudjohnsen headed wide and was then denied by QPR substitute goalkeeper Paul Nardi.

Blackburn were unable to take advantage of a couple of goalmouth scrambles as the game became increasingly open and their profligacy came back to bite them when Chair and Smyth combined for the winner.

The diminutive winger almost made it 2-0 soon after, but his first-time volley was somehow kept out by a combination of Pears and the upright, while Blackburn were unable to fashion an equaliser in the limited time remaining.