Washington warning to title chasers

QUEENS PARK RANGERS might be wallowing in mid-table but Conor Washington wants them to become Championship spoilers. The Rangers striker scored on Saturday as his team denied a flimsy Wolves side the chance to go back to the top of the table. And Washington is determined to do the same tomorrow night when leaders Sheffield United roll into west London to face Ian Holloway’s streetfighters. And with Aston Villa next to visit Loftus Road, on November 18, QPR will have plenty of influence on how the Championship table will look by the end of next month. Washington (below) said: ‘I watched the Sheffield United game on Friday night. They are a good side and we’re looking forward to testing ourselves again. ‘They have got great fans as well, so it will be a really good game. ‘And then it’s Aston Villa. They just seem to keep coming in the Championship, don’t they? There are great teams all around, but we back ourselves against anyone here. ‘We seem to do better against the better teams. They are probably going to have the ball a little more than us and move the ball quicker and try to break through the lines. ‘Sides outside the top six give us a different challenge. We seem to struggle a bit against the teams who give us a bit of the ball so we need to work on a formula to get points off those teams.’ Washington opened the scoring on Saturday when he bundled his way past Wolves keeper John Ruddy, only to see a jinking run by the irrepressible Diogo Jota set up Leo Bonatini to bring the visitors level two minutes later. QPR substitute Matt Smith guided home a header nine minutes from time to leave Wolves regretting a fitful performance which cost them the chance to return to the top. The openness of their play contrasted with manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s surliness in defeat, which included refusing to speak about Morgan Gibbs-White, one of the England Under 17 goalscoring heroes. With awkward-looking games to come tomorrow at Norwich and then at home to Fulham on Friday, Santo knows that freedom of expression on the pitch has to be matched by commitment. He added: ‘It is impossible to win every game and we cannot stay too much time in sorrow. We have to hit back, step up and show that we want to be really high.’