Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

In the warm glow around Loftus Road on Saturday after their 3-1 win over West Brom, the only tarnish on the happy proceedings was the team's inability, once again, to keep a clean sheet.

Last season, QPR's reasonable league finish, with talk of the play-offs until relatively late in the season, was built on the back of a defence which rarely gave the opposition the satisfaction of scoring and Rangers finished the season with the best defensive record in the league.

It is hard to understand, then, what has gone wrong for the Super Hoops this season as many of their current problems have their root in some woeful play at the back. It's now 24 games in all competitions since the club kept a clean-sheet, so working on the back four's collective play will be top of new manager Neil Warnock's to-do list.

Kaspars Gorkss, the Latvian international who joined the club in July 2008, has formed a part of that defence for much of this season and though he was happy to see Warnock's reign at QPR kick off with a win, he also admitted that he is far from pleased with his and his colleagues' inability to keep the ball out of their own net.

"We're not good enough defensively, maybe," he said after the game.

"At the beginning of the season we were scoring four goals every game so it wasn't too bad but once we stopped scoring we still conceded at least a goal every game so that's a big problem for us.

"Obviously for me as a defender it's very frustrating that you can say that West Brom didn't have any clear cut chances and they still get a goal against us and I think it was the same against Doncaster.

"It is a bit frustrating but hopefully we can change that as well."

The managerial switches may have harmed the defence's cohesiveness, though there were a few switches in the dug-out last season as well, but if QPR are to climb away from the bottom three, they will surely have to record a clean sheet sooner rather than later.

Warnock's influence on the training pitch could be crucial there and Gorkss confirmed that he had given the players his trademark tough first training session to show them who was boss.

"He made us wear shin pads on our first training," he said.

"I think as a professional player you need to take on every idea that a new manager has and just accept his philosophy of the game.

"I think that's what we need at the moment.

"We just need a leader who prepares us for the matches, for the fight.

After switching jobs at the age of 61 and signing a three-and-a-half year contract, Warnock has also lost none of his passion for football and described how he instructed the players to smile and enjoy the game before sending them out against West Brom. Once again, Gorkss confirmed that his personality was already having an impact on the players.

"I think everyone knows how enthusiastic he is about doing things and I think his enthusiasm is transferring to the players," he said.

"It shows on the pitch as well and it helped us to win."

A real mark of progress for QPR then will be when they do finally prevent the opposition from scoring. The next opportunity is tomorrow against Plymouth - a game which on paper should be simpler than West Brom, as Argyle are currently mired in the relegation area. So the most contented person at full-time would definitely be Kaspars Gorkss if the Hoops' goal remains untroubled.