QPR manager Mark Warburton was relieved after a double substitution helped his side come back from two goals down to claim a 2-2 Championship draw with Barnsley and maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
The visitors totally dominated a first half in which Dominik Frieser and Cauley Woodrow scored to put them in control of the game.
Rangers were so poor that Warburton did not wait until half-time to make changes. He withdrew George Thomas and Andre Dozzell 10 minutes before the interval and sent on Albert Adomah and Dom Ball.
Warburton’s side improved and Ilias Chair pulled a goal back with 14 minutes remaining before Charlie Austin’s stoppage-time equaliser rescued a point.
“We were two down and just felt we had to change it quickly,” Warburton admitted. “It’s no reflection on Andre or George – they’ve been excellent since the first day of pre-season.
“But we had to change it and they were the two who suffered. It could have been a number of people.
“We had to change it and in the second half I think you saw a far more composed performance.
“Around the pitch in the second half we were much better. We were good and created chances.
“We were on the front foot, took care of the ball and in the end could maybe have won the game.”
Thomas has struggled to establish himself as a first-team player since arriving at QPR last year, while Dozzell was making his first start since being signed from Ipswich this summer.
Warburton said: “Any player is going to be disappointed when you get subbed after half an hour. You’re going to feel lower than a snake’s belly.
“But you speak to them and you make it clear that it’s not about the individual. As a team we were poor and we had to change it.”
Barnsley boss Markus Schopp felt his side were guilty of naivety after such a superb start.
They missed chances to score a third goal and were unable to see the game out as QPR put them under late pressure.
“After 35 minutes, this game was over,” Schopp said. “We’re still lacking quality with finishing because we created so many chances.
“Even at 2-0 up, we had chances and we didn’t do it. We were lacking and we were too naive at the end and didn’t know how to handle the situation.
“We started the second half not that bad but we made some mistakes and lost the ball too easily. We need a bit more experience in those situations.
“We knew the second half would be tough but we had chances to score a third goal and, if you don’t score, then you can lose a game like this too.
“It’s all about having the right experience and intensity and knowing how to pass a period like this.
“We had moments to score again and didn’t and it was all about being naive in certain moments.
“The point feels like a defeat, to be honest. It was probably the best 50 minutes since I’ve been here and the lads did an awesome job.
“There were a lot of positives but still a lot of negatives that we have to improve on.
“The most important improvement is to handle a situation like this when we are 2-0 up away from home.”
