QPR manager Mark Hughes 'will not face drop again'

QPR manager Mark Hughes says the club will not face Premier League relegation again while he is in charge.

The Hoops survived on the final day of the season despite a 3-2 defeat by champions Manchester City, thanks to Bolton's 2-2 draw at Stoke.

"The club wasn't ready for the Premier League but we are moving very quickly," said Hughes, who took charge at Loftus Road in January.

"There is no way we will be in this situation again in my time here."

Knowing that victory over Hughes' former employers would have guaranteed their survival, QPR, who had been reduced to 10 men after Joey Barton was sent off, came from 1-0 down to lead 2-1 thanks to goals from Djibril Cisse and Jamie Mackie.

But City struck twice in stoppage time, through Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero, to win their first league championship in 44 years.

"If we had pulled it off and won the game, it would have been the greatest Premier League performance in history given the significance of the game and the attention focused on it," said Hughes.

"I congratulate City. It is a huge achievement for them. I am sure there will be many more in the future. We touched the well of apprehension they experienced. It was all the more exciting because of that."

However, by the time City were snatching the title from Manchester United, QPR were already safe because of Bolton's failure to win at the Britannia Stadium.

Hughes added: "I suppose we are a bit flat because we felt we had done enough to win the game Given the circumstances and that we were down to 10 men we deserve full credit for digging in.

"We worked on what we had to do to frustrate City, which we did for long, long periods when they were knocking aimless balls into the box that we dealt with easily.

"We tapped into their apprehension. To come here and to produce what we did was magnificent.

"I'm delighted for everyone connected with QPR, on a highly emotional day for everyone we put on a magnificent performance."