Mark Warburton committed to bedding youth into his QPR team despite top-10 hopes taking a hit

Mark Warburton insisted first-team exposure is the best way for his youngsters to learn after Queens Park Rangers suffered their fourth defeat in five against relegation-threatened Wigan.

Kieffer Moore’s 33rd-minute strike sealed a vital three points for the hosts as Rangers remain five points off a targeted top-10 finish in the Championship this season.

Although Warburton admitted his team has been “guilty” of missing “gilt-edged chances”, he believes the opportunities are there to score.

He said: “If you look at the stats for this season, I think for a long time we were second or third in terms of chances created and goals scored. There’s been no problem this season in creating chances, but we have been guilty of missing many of the gilt-edge chances.

“But we’re a young squad. You’re mentioning players who are 20, 21 years of age. I think we finished the game remarkably young tonight.

“We’re very, very young but they have got to recognise the demands of the division. You’ve got to score, you have to score chances. Tonight, it was Ilias [Chair] but we have been guilty all season of that.”

Rangers’ best chance fell to Chair on the hour, when he was teed up by Olamide Shodipo, only to be denied by goalkeeper David Marshall.

The departure of experienced players, such as Grant Hall, Marc Pugh and Nahki Wells, has added responsibility on young players’ shoulders but Warburton is confident first-team exposure is the best way for them to learn.

He added: “They are going to make mistakes, I have no doubts. Young Conor Masterson will make a mistake, Os [Osman Kakay] will make a mistake. Ilias will make one, today he had got to score.

“But, more importantly for me, he didn’t stop the number five [Sam Morsy] when he dropped his shoulder and ran past him for their goal. That’s the learning. That can’t happen.

“In U23s’ football there are no consequences… but the only way these guys learn, and we all talk about exposing young players to the level and developing them, that’s the only way they learn.”

PICTURES BY SEAN GOSLING