Hughes left to rue slow start

Mark Hughes admits Queens Park Rangers paid the price for stumbling out of the blocks at Chelsea, but is looking for them to respond positively to a derby hammering.

Rangers made the short trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday looking to edge themselves clear of the drop zone, but ended up on the wrong end of a 6-1 demolition.

A forgettable display saw them fall behind inside 60 seconds, while Fernando Torres netted a hat-trick to put the Blues in complete control.

Hughes concedes his side were beaten by a side brimming with confidence after booking a place in the UEFA Champions League final and he is already turning his attention towards a crucial contest with Stoke City next Sunday.

"We have given ourselves a mountain to climb," he told Sky Sports when asked to sum up QPR's display against Chelsea.

"You come to Chelsea, who are on a high after the events of midweek, and you have got to come out and start disappointing them initially and not give them any encouragement. Unfortunately we were unable to do that.

Too good

"We lost three or four goals in 20 minutes and there is no coming back from that. In fairness, we tried to have a go but that ended up compromising ourselves because we were committing people forward and they were just picking us off very easily. That was the story of the day.

"Credit to Chelsea, they were excellent on the day and were too good for us. We have got to move on from this, we have got a huge game next weekend, and it certainly wasn't our day today."

Defeat keeps QPR precariously perched just above the relegation zone, while their goal difference - which is the only thing keeping them out of the bottom three at present - has taken a battering.

"That was something we were mindful of," said Hughes.

"Second half we have conceded again, but we have got one back. From that point of view we were very mindful of that and were trying to protect that.

"But we have still got a situation where we have got points to play for and we have got a huge game next weekend at home. We need to make sure we win that and see what happens."