Charlie Austin has told Lyndon Dykes to be more selfish as he looks to add to his QPR goal tally.
Scotland striker Dykes has scored four goals in as many appearances for the R’s.
He netted twice in Saturday’s 4-1 win against Sheffield Wednesday - match he started because Austin was suspended.
Austin has become something of a mentor for Dykes since returning for a second spell at Rangers.
And he believes the 25-year-old needs to adopt a more ruthless approach in front of goal.
“He needs to be more selfish. It’s a centre-forward mentality,” Austin said.
“It’s great being a team player with a work ethic - and I get that stuff. But ultimately strikers are judged on their tally of goals.
“If he had 15 goals and was bang average everyone would be buzzing because he had 15 goals. That’s the catch-22 of being a centre-forward.”
Dykes’ purple patch has taken his tally for the season to nine, although four of those goals have been from the penalty spot.
Prior to his recent run he had scored just once in open play following his move to west London from Livingston.
It has been a difficult first season at QPR for Dykes, who played amateur football in his native Australia before moving to Scotland.
“You’ve got to remember that Dykesy has come in from Livingston and hasn’t even been a pro footballer for too long,” Austin said.
“It’s been thrown upon him about being Scotland’s saviour and their number 9 and all this kind of stuff.
“It’ll happen for Dykesy. I see him in training every day and I believe in him,
“He works so hard and the goals will come. It was inevitable that he was going to start scoring.”