Blackburn's struggles at home this season continued as Paul Smyth's second-half header earned QPR a hard-fought Championship victory at Ewood Park.

The Northern Ireland forward had only been on the pitch for seven minutes when he directed Ilias Chair's cross back across goal and into the bottom corner.

It was the only moment of composure in front of goal during a match in which both sides squandered several clear-cut chances.

The victory takes QPR into the top half of the table, while Blackburn stay 18th having still only won once in front of their own fans this term.

Off the back of an impressive 3-2 win over Hull on Saturday, QPR started on the front foot in Lancashire - although they were forced into a first-half change in goal when Ben Hamer collided with team-mate Steve Cook and was unable to continue.

Chair was denied by a sharp save from Blackburn goalkeeper Aynsley Pears, Kristi Montgomery blocked Karamoko Dembele's goalbound shot behind for a corner and Jonathan Varane headed a Chair corner over the top.

Koki Saito was at the heart of the visitors' attacking threat and could have had a penalty after he skipped past Blackburn defender Lewis Miller and went down in the box as QPR dominated first-half proceedings.

However, with their first attack of note, Blackburn should have hit the front on 41 minutes.

Ryoya Morishita flashed in a cross from the right after some tidy build-up play, but Andri Gudjohnsen - Rovers' match-winner against Preston on Friday - was unable to hit the target having got ahead of his marker.

The hosts improved after the half-time break, playing with more intensity and attacking intent, but Gudjohnsen headed wide and was then denied by QPR substitute goalkeeper Paul Nardi.

Blackburn were unable to take advantage of a couple of goalmouth scrambles as the game became increasingly open and their profligacy came back to bite them when Chair and Smyth combined for the winner.

The diminutive winger almost made it 2-0 soon after, but his first-time volley was somehow kept out by a combination of Pears and the upright, while Blackburn were unable to fashion an equaliser in the limited time remaining.

Blackburn head coach Valerien Ismael told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"It was a typical 0-0 game, I would say. We've got the better chances before 1-0, first half and especially second half - their goalkeeper made a big save.

"Then we give the goal away. That's the big frustration for me. The boys need to learn, at least keep the point - so many games, every point counts. We gave the goal away, it was too cheap.

"This one is painful. The feeling is that we are not going forward. A big disappointment about the performance and how we gave the ball away.

"We will go again, but the main problem is we are not winning at home. Today is completely unnecessary. Every time it is a tight game we are not able to take the points and to stay calm. At some point we need to have a turnaround at home or it will be difficult.

"Nobody wanted to take responsibility. At some point when we played forwards it was much better. I don't know why the players don't always try to do that because that is our game."

QPR head coach Julien Stephan told BBC Radio London:

"It was a strange game, to be honest. We started well and had some good approach in the first half, but we didn't take good decisions.

"At half-time we said the most important is to be focused and clinical in the second half. It was the case with a very good ball from Ilias Chair and a nice finish from Smythy.

"I don't forget at 0-0 that Paul [Nardi] made a great save which was a very important moment for us. I want to congratulate Paul because I took a difficult decision for him two games ago - I wanted to change the goalkeeper. He is a great person, a very good goalkeeper and he showed his qualities.

"Just enjoy the moment and be focused on the next game because it will arrive quickly. We have Norwich away and then three games the week after."