Rangers travel woe continue

IAN HOLLOWAY was left scratching his head as QPR suffered their latest bout of travel sickness.

Injury-hit Rangers were twice ahead against bigspending Boro on a crazy afternoon at the Riverside – but they couldn’t hold on. So no away wins for seven months.

Holloway’s battlers deserved a share of the spoils, but were sunk by Britt Assombalonga’s 60th-minute winner to keep them in mid-table with just two points from the last 33 on the road.

Sub Pavel Wszolek should have dragged the Londoners level but his late shot hit a post, and boss Holloway said: “It was a fantastic game if you’re a neutral and to be honest I’m sat here scratching my head as to how we lost. The players gave me everything and I couldn’t be prouder of them. I might be a bit biased but for the way we played, I thought we deserved at least a point.”

David Wheeler started the fun with just 100 seconds on the clock on his full debut for the Rs.

He slotted home leftfooted at the far post after catching Brazilian fullback Fabio napping when Luke Freeman’s scuffed shot flew across the face of goal.

Boro deservedly drew level nine minutes before the break as the pacy Marvin Johnson slithered past two challenges before delivering a perfect reverse pass to release Lewis Baker, who picked his spot past Alex Smithies for his first league goal since arriving on loan from Chelsea last month.

Only a stunning fullstretch save from Smithies stopped Baker doubling his tally before the interval as chances came and went on a poor day for both defences.

Rangers retook the lead soon after the break, substitute Jamie Mackie left with the simple task of rolling the ball into an empty net after defender Ben Gibson and keeper Darren Randolph got into an almighty tangle on the edge of the Boro box.

But the advantage lasted just five minutes as sub Ashley Fletcher rose highest to glance home a Cyrus Christie cross for his first league goal since a £6.5million summer move from West Ham.

Former Oxford winger Johnson took centre-stage again on his full debut with a brilliant run down the left before crossing for Assombalonga to score the winner with a diving header.

Boss Garry Monk said: “We found a way to win and that’s an important trait in a team when you’re not at your best.

“Both Ian and I went through all the emotions on the sidelines. The disappointment from our point of view is that both goals were avoidable.”