Gary Rowett suffered a defeat in his first game back at the Birmingham City helm thanks to Jimmy Dunne's late stunner for Queens Park Rangers.
Dunne fired home a belter in stoppage time to complete a 2-1 comeback win for QPR. Steve Cook had earlier cancelled out Juninho Bacuna's opening goal.
Blues stay in 21st place in the Championship ahead of their meeting with Preston North End on Easter Monday. Blues are only above the relegation on goal difference.
Check out Alex Dicken's blow-by-blow account of Blues' latest defeat and the player ratings below...
The player ratings
A stoppage time stunner from Jimmy Dunne inflicted another defeat on Birmingham City in Gary Rowett’s first game in charge.
Dunne lashed home in the 92nd minute to complete a 2-1 comeback victory for Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road. Juninho Bacuna’s opener was swiftly cancelled out by Steve Cook before Dunne snatched the points for the hosts at the death.
Check out our player ratings HERE
FT: QPR 2-1 Blues
Blues suffer a sickening defeat in stoppage time in Gary Rowett's first game back. Jimmy Dunne's worldie settled it.
Blues stay in 21st place at the bottom of a congested Championship table. QPR are edging closer to safety, whereas Blues are in the thick of the battle.
QPR lead
Wow. What a sickener. Dunne has just scored an unbelievable goal in the 92nd minute. Blues trail 2-1.
He pounced on a loose ball and volleyed home left-footed from 25 yards.
Two more Blues changes
Two more changes: Jordan James and Scott Hogan replace Bacuna and Stansfield. Six minutes of normal time to go.
Blues have been under the cosh a little bit in the last 10 minutes. QPR are playing very direct, getting it wide and looking to whip crosses in towards Sinclair Armstrong.
First Blues change
Rowett's first change sees Koji Miyoshi replace Tyler Roberts for the final 17 minutes plus stoppages. No change in system, still 3-4-3.
Roberts gets one final round of jeers before joining the Blues bench. He played OK today.
QPR level things up
That didn't last long. QPR are level within three minutes. Steve Cook scores after Blues fail to deal with a deep free-kick. Possibly a slight deflection off Aiwu.
The Blues fans in the away end respond with a rendition of Keep Right On. All to play for at Loftus Road.
Bacuna gives Blues the lead!
Juninho Bacuna has given Blues the lead!
Absolutely brilliant. Bacuna started it, driving through midfield before finding Laird on the right. Laird played it back to him and he placed his shot beyond Begovic.
Two players in the book
Ethan Laird and Tyler Roberts have both gone into the book in quick succession, much to the delight of the home fans.
Bielik has just done well to get his body in the way of a shot from Field. It may well have been going in.
Second half underway
The game is back underway.
Lukas Jutkiewicz is here at Loftus Road. Rowett said on Wednesday that Jutkiewicz has insisted on travelling with the team even if he can't play. Hopefully we haven't seen the last of him in a Blues shirt.
HT: QPR 0-0 Blues
QPR have had the better chances in a fairly even first 45. The front three look dangerous but Blues have been exposed down the flanks a few times.
It will be interesting to see when Rowett full releases the handbrake, or if he does at all. Blues have an plethora of attacking options on the bench.
It's settled down now
Blues have managed to stem the flow of QPR attacks and gain some control in the midfield.
Stansfield had a great chance to round Begovic earlier after being played in behind by Bacuna. Unfortunately, Stansfield's touch was slightly heavy and QPR managed to get bodies back.
It's worth mentioning that Tyler Roberts is having one of his most effective games to date. The 25-year-old is causing his former club lots of problems down the left and playing some neat passes.
Ruddy to the rescue
Big stop from Ruddy to keep out Chair's header. Chair was able to meet Willock's cross unmarked.
Cody Drameh messed around with the ball on the edge of his own box instead of clearing his lines. The defender was then beaten by Willock down the wing.
Roberts takes aim
Tyler Roberts has just whipped a shot inches over the bar. Roberts spent last season on loan here and is taking a bit of stick.
The Blues fans in the away end have just asked Rowett to give them a wave. He obliged. 'Gary Rowett's Blue and White army' now echoing around The Achilleus Security Stand.
Here we go
Warm ups complete
The warm ups are now done and dusted. Every Blues player has trotted in to the changing rooms after having a picture taken with today's away mascot.
Paul Robinson was heavily involved in the pre-match drills. Ashley Cole did some individual work with Emanuel Aiwu and Dion Sanderson after the players had split up to work in their groups.
Ashley Cole is on the bench, Pete Shuttleworth isn't
Gary Rowett's response to a question about the make-up of his backroom team at his press conference on Wednesday suggested the roles of Ashley Cole and Pete Shuttleworth could change across the final eight games.
Rowett has brought ex-Blues captain Paul Robinson and Dave Carolan with him, while chief scout Joe Carnall - who has previously worked alongside Rowett - has been added to the coaching staff.
Cole has been included on the bench list and is currently out on the pitch with the rest of the coaches. However, Shuttleworth isn't on the pitch.
QPR team news
QPR have made two changes to their XI from their 0-0 draw with Sunderland last time out. Midfielder Sam Field and striker Michael Frey come in for Jack Colback and Lyndon Dykes.
(4-2-3-1): Begovic; Dunne, Cook, Clarke-Salter, Paal; Field, Hayden; Willock, Andersen, Chair; Frey
Subs: Walsh (GK), Colback, Dykes, Smyth, Fox, Hodge, Cannon, Larkeche, Armstrong
Blues make three changes
Blues have switched to a back three for Gary Rowett’s first game. Three changes with Sanderson, Bielik and Tyler Roberts replacing Sunjic, Miyoshi and James.
(3-4-3): Ruddy; Aiwu, Sanderson, Buchanan; Laird, Bielik, Paik, Drameh; Bacuna, T Roberts, Stansfield
Subs: Etheridge, Gardner, Sunjic, James, Anderson, Miyoshi, Hall, Dembele, Hogan
Two ex-Blues players to watch
QPR have two former Blues loanees in their squad in Jake Clarke-Salter and Taylor Richards.
Clarke-Salter played 29 Championship games in two separate loan spells with Blues, while Richards made six appearances for the club in 2022.
Ilias Chair is the obvious dangerman for QPR but Sinclair Armstrong's physical attributes have caught the eye in recent games against Blues.
My colleague Brian Dick is a big fan of Armstrong, who has been linked with a number of clubs in the past six months.
International exertions
Rowett might not be able to pick the XI he wants to pick today. Blues had a number of players away on international duty.
He has a conundrum in midfield given the fact Paik Seung-ho and Jordan James both featured prominently for their countries.
Paik started two games against Thailand and only landed back in Birmingham on Wednesday after a long haul flight. James, of course, played 120 minutes for Wales on Tuesday night in their agonising Euro 2024 play-off defeat to Poland on penalties.
Andre Dozzell is ineligible and Krystian Bielik has only just returned to fitness. We are all working on the assumption that Ivan Sunjic will start - but who will Rowett play next to him?
Hello and welcome
Good afternoon from Loftus Road where Gary Rowett takes charge of the first game of his second spell as Blues manager. The 50-year-old was re-appointed Blues boss on an interim basis during the international break.
He has spent a week or so on the training ground with the players in preparation for this match. It will be interesting to see how he lines the team up.
QPR (a)
— Alex Dicken (@alexedicken) March 29, 2024
Gary Rowett’s first match and it’s a big one. 20th vs 21st in the Championship.
Interested to see the XI. Expect Rowett to prioritise tightening up a defence which has leaked 48 goals in its last 27 games. #BCFC #KRO pic.twitter.com/07U8j0xHX3
