Middlesbrough 0 QPR 1

Suddenly, though, the key figures behind the labyrinthine ownership structure that resulted in Wigan Athletic being placed into administration look to be Middlesbrough’s only chance of avoiding relegation to League One. On the evidence of yesterday’s calamitous home defeat to QPR, the Teessiders are incapable of securing their Championship status themselves.

Back in the bottom three and devoid of the spark that briefly flickered at Stoke in the immediate aftermath of Neil Warnock’s appointment, Boro’s best hope of remaining in the second tier might well be the 12-point penalty that the EFL has stated it will impose on Wigan after the administrators were called in last Wednesday. Mind you, that will only make a difference if the Teessiders can finish in 22nd position, and that is hardly a given despite Barnsley and Luton having suffered heavy defeats at the weekend. Play like this in their remaining five matches, and it is hard to see Warnock’s side picking up another point.

They have not won at the Riverside since Boxing Day, and yesterday’s latest defeat came at the hands of a QPR side that had not picked up a single point in their three post-lockdown matches prior to their trip to the North-East.

Whereas Boro had been somewhat unfortunate to lose at Hull on Thursday, conceding a stoppage-time goal after dominating for the majority of the game, this was a much more merited defeat. Disjointed, laboured and devoid of attacking ideas throughout, Boro failed to ask a single serious question of QPR goalkeeper Joe Lumley.

Jordan Hugill’s sensational long-range winner came somewhat out of the blue 13 minutes before the interval, but QPR were the better side in the first half and were able to shut up shop and coast to the final whistle in the second.

Other than Patrick Roberts, whose dribbling runs occasionally threatened to spark the home side into life, Boro offered nothing at all in the final third, a failing that has plagued them all season and sees them firmly established as the Championship’s lowest scorers.

Britt Assombalonga and Ashley Fletcher never looked like adding to Boro’s paltry goals tally, which now stands at 40 goals from 41 games, while substitute Lukas Nmecha wasted the only chance that came his way. Ravel Morrison offered nothing from the heart of midfield, while Warnock’s strange decision to field Harold Moukoudi as a holding midfielder did not really bear fruit. As Jonathan Woodgate would no doubt attest, though, it doesn’t really matter how you shuffle the cards in this Middlesbrough pack – the end result is generally the same.

That Hugill was the player inflicting such serious damage on Boro’s survival hopes should not have been a surprise. The footballing fates tend to decree that a former player enjoys success on his return to his former stamping ground, especially when he is a boyhood fan of the club he is playing against.

Hugill’s loan return to Teesside last season was hardly a success, with the former Northern League striker scoring just seven goals in his 41 appearances. His £10.5m move to West Ham United seemed a distant memory as he toiled under Tony Pulis, and the lack of confidence that plagued him throughout last season was apparent again as he spurned a glorious opportunity to give QPR the lead on the half-hour mark.

Jonny Howson dawdled on the ball, enabling Bright Osayi-Samuel to seize possession, and the QPR midfielder duly sent Hugill scampering through the middle. George Friend did his best to get back to the striker’s shoulder, but Hugill lacked conviction as he hesitated before aiming a tame effort at Dejan Stojanovic’s legs.

That version of Hugill would have been familiar to any Boro fans watching on the internet, but the one that assumed centre-stage a minute later was much less reminiscent of the striker’s performances last season.

Picking up the ball from Ryan Manning close to the right touchline, Hugill appeared to have nothing on as he turned his body towards goal. Spotting Stojanovic marginally off his line, though, the Teessider unleashed a sensational 30-yard half-volley that arced over the Boro goalkeeper before nestling in the net.

It was a wonderfully athletic strike, although the act of executing it resulted in Hugill suffering a hamstring injury that forced his immediate departure. From the 28-year-old’s perspective, though, a point had been well and truly proved.

Hugill’s departure did little to change the general pattern of the game, and QPR would have doubled their lead shortly before the interval had Stojanovic not got down smartly to parry Manning’s driven free-kick.

Boro’s only first-half chance of note came to nothing when Fletcher fired a low shot into the legs of Lumley after Roberts released him into the right-hand side of the box, and having bemoaned his side’s lack of a cutting edge at Hull three days earlier, Warnock will have been even more frustrated by yesterday’s laboured efforts in the final third.

The recalled Fletcher failed to link with Assombalonga, Roberts was closed down whenever he looked to cut in from the right and Morrison, making his first start since Warnock’s arrival, was utterly ineffectual at the heart of midfield. Morrison has struggled to make much of an impact as a winger since joining from Sheffield United in January – a positional switch infield did nothing to increase his effectiveness.

He lacked composure midway through the second half when he fired wastefully over the crossbar after Fletcher prodded the ball into his path, and was hauled off mments later as part of a triple change that saw Lewis Wing, Paddy McNair and Nmecha come onto the field.

McNair fired over from just outside the box with virtually his first touch, before his fellow replacement, Nmecha, wasted perhaps the best chance of the game with nine minutes left.

Having stolen ahead of his marker to meet Howson’s floated cross from the right, the Manchester City loanee, who, like Morrison, has offered precious little since joining in January, swivelled neatly before firing a first-time effort high over the crossbar.