'Eustace frustrated but it's all to play for'

Almost a year into his Blackburn reign, John Eustace was, visibly, as frustrated as he's been since taking the job by Tuesday's 2-1 defeat at QPR - a result that leaves his side still in the top five but having played more than the chasing pack.

A team that won six on the bounce before Christmas has now won two of their past 11 in the Championship, a run that has angered the head coach, who is the first to always back his players publicly.

"To lose in the manner we did with another soft goal was very disappointing," Eustace told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"We've got to put our bodies on the line to keep the ball out of the net."

The defeat was Rovers' 12th of the league season. The four clubs above them in the table have lost a combined 14. West Bromwich Albion, a place below them, have lost six but drawn more than double the number of games Rovers have.

The two sides meet next week with Tony Mowbray and Adam Armstrong up against their former club.

The lack of draws has been key of late. In their past two away games, Blackburn have responded to being a goal down by scoring the next one, but have conceded again at pretty much the same time in both - with 13 or 14 minutes to go.

A point at Bristol City and QPR would have been more than acceptable on the face of it, having won the home games against both earlier in the season.

It's also the manner of goals going which has been cause for concern. In the past five games (W1 L4), you could argue at least four, if not more, of the goals were soft. Deflections you can't do a lot about, but others have been a bit of a head scratcher.

Eustace knows things have to improve at both ends to stand a chance of securing one of those play-off spots.

"We've got to defend the box better and be more clinical in the final third because we still had two or three great chances," Eustace said.

"We need to improve if we've got any aspirations of trying to get into the top six. We need to be better than we have been."

'Fifth is more than many could every have dreamed of'

Since well before the turn of the year, Eustace has stressed the need for new arrivals during the January transfer window to help the players he already has. Six players have been added to his squad, three on deadline day.

The reaction from the fanbase has been mixed. Some have questioned the recruitment model and how it works, others feel it's an improvement on recent winter windows when high-profile human errors cost them key players.

How many of them impact the starting XI on a regular basis between now and May remains to be seen.

Emmanuel Dennis is one that has caught the imagination and comes at some outlay. But he hasn't kicked a ball in domestic football for 10 months.

Cauley Woodrow's only Championship start this season was in early November. Dion Sanderson and Adam Forshaw are in a similar boat.

Yuri Ribeiro has been in and out of Braga's side and Augustus Kargbo, who made his debut at Loftus Road, has played 90 minutes once in Serie B since the start of September.

Undoubtedly one of Eustace's biggest strengths is getting the best out of the players at his disposal.

His players love to work for him and added options will be welcome with an absentee list still containing Hayden Carter, Harry Pickering, Sondre Tronstad, Yuki Ohashi, Arnor Sigurdsson and Harry Leonard.

The 25-man squad to be named this week provides an interesting and delicate conundrum for the head coach.

Rovers have 26 seniors on the books, meaning someone will have to sit out the remainder of the season.

There are 45 points still up for grabs. To be fifth in the table at this point is more than many could ever have dreamed of. It's all to play for.