Middlesbrough 0-1 QPR: Neil Warnock’s side look incapable of saving themselves

They had never heard of Au Yeung Wai Kay in Middlesbrough this time last week. It could well be that Wigan’s mystery owner is the man who keeps them in the Championship.

For new Boro boss Neil Warnock is beginning to realise the scale of the challenge he took on last month.

This was his first game in charge at the Riverside but it all felt very familiar, another defeat to leave his side in the bottom three and without a home win since Boxing Day.

Neil Warnock’s Middlesbrough suffered another defeat as a solitary QPR goal proved decisive 

Jordan Hugill (left) scored the winner for QPR with a superb lobbed finish over the goalkeeper

George Friend’s face told the story at full time with Boro still in big relegation trouble

Enter Wai Kay, a previously unknown Chinese businessman who looks set to emerge as more central to Boro’s survival prospects than Warnock or any of his players.

He put Wigan into administration last Wednesday and, with it, comes the likelihood of a 12-point deduction that would send them into relegation zone.

On the evidence of this performance, that penalty could be Boro’s best hope of staying up. They looked incapable of saving themselves here and were beaten by a goal from Middlesbrough-born Jordan Hugill.

He spent last season on loan at his hometown club and never produced anything as stunning as the 30-yard volley that earned QPR their first win since the restart.

Hugill used to work as a barman at the Dickens Inn pub in the town and it’s just as well the locals are back in beer after lockdown, for their team is a tough watch right now.

Hugill injured himself in scoring and came off with what appeared to be a hamstring issue

Middlesbrough lost 1-0 to QPR due to Jordan Hugill’s 32nd minute goal that secured the win

Warnock tried to inject some creativity by starting with former Manchester United prodigy Ravel Morrison for the first time. As neat and tidy as he was, the 27-year-old rarely vacated the centre circle and gone is the energy that would see him break from midfield during the promise of his early years.

QPR, by comparison, showed far more attacking intent, Mark Warburton’s side attempting to reverse a run of three straight defeats since returning to action.

Warnock has said that, in conversations with QPR director of football Les Ferdinand, they have spoken about Eberechi Eze being sold for as much as £20million. The 22-year-old forward looked worth every penny of that sum when he skipped clear inside the area early on.

However, you would not get £20 for the finish, an ill-advised back-heel when his QPR team-mates were far better placed.

QPR, by comparison, showed far more attacking intent than Middlesbrough throughout

On the subject of sizeable fees, it was hard to believe that Hugill was signed by parent club West Ham for £10m on the evidence of his effort when sprung clear on 31 minutes.

He never looked comfortable one-on-one with Dejan Stojanovic and dithered for so long that it allowed George Friend to recover and block the eventual shot.

So perhaps it was that the burly frontman needed a chance more reliant on instinct. And that he had when he was again put clear within 60 seconds. This time, though, a bouncing ball presented the opportunity for a first-time smash and, noticing Stojanovic too far from his goal-line, he duly lobbed the goalkeeper from distance.

When he collapsed to the turf you did not know if it was in agony or ecstasy. Sadly, for Hugill, it was the latter, and what looked like a muscle injury meant his last contribution would be the goal.

It proved to the most telling of the afternoon.