Warburton keen to bolster QPR’s attacking options

​QPR manager Mark Warburton admitted the goalless draw at home to Swansea highlighted why he is keen to bring in an attacking player before the transfer deadline.

Rangers had won their previous four matches and another victory would have taken them up to third in the  Championship table.

They remain in a strong position in fourth – four points behind second-placed Blackburn with a game in hand.

But they missed the creativity of Ilias Chair, who is at the Africa Cup of Nations with Morocco.

Warburton wants Tom Lawrence, but Rangers’ chances of signing the playmaker appear to be slim.

Bournemouth are chasing Lawrence, while another of QPR’s promotion rivals, West Brom, are interested in Swansea’s Jamie Paterson, who has been earmarked as a possible alternative to Lawrence.

Paterson has been absent from the Swans squad for recent matches and is expected to leave the Welsh club.

Warburton said: “I just felt we lacked a bit of quality in the final third. We know we were not at our best.

“You’re obviously going to miss a player who plays nine times out of 10. Ilias is normally in the team and with his goals and assists he’s a very talented boy.

“He’s been away but if you look at our run for the last eight or nine games, we’re not doing bad.

“I’m not ignoring it – we know we need attacking options. When you make a substitution you want to change it to change the dynamic and tempo of a game.

“We are targeting players. We know what we want and who we want to bring in.

“Who we want and getting it done are two entirely different things. I hope very much in the next two or three days that we see some movement.”

R’s midfielder Luke Amos hit the post and Lyndon Dykes missed a great chance when he shot straight at keeper Ben Hamer.

“The boys have found a way to win games and tonight we couldn’t quite find a way to win it,” Warburton said.

“But look at the results. We’ve done OK and are in a decent position, and come May that could be a very good point indeed.”