QPR's Gavin Mahon on QPR's Foreign Loans and on Not Playing

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Eurosport - Championship - Mahon: Foreign loan stars will shine

EXCLUSIVE! Queens Park Rangers midfielder Gavin Mahon has warned the club's Championship rivals that once the Hoops' on-loan playmakers learn the English game, they will be a force to be reckoned with.

Argentine Emmanuel Ledesma put in a sterling performance in the opening match of the season as QPR beat Barnsley, while Spaniard Daniel Parejo appeared from the bench.

However the midfield pair - on loan from Genoa and Real Madrid respectively - suffered a shock after starting the second game as Sheffield United hammered Rangers 3-0 at Bramall Lane.

"The weekend performance was okay," Mahon (pictured in blue and white) told Eurosport. "We tried to play too much football though and pass, pass, pass; not get in behind, which is what they did and we were punished for it.

"You have to be defensive sometimes in this league, which is something they perhaps don't understand yet. Ledesma's a young lad and there's already a few ball players like him in the team [such as Hogan Ephraim and Lee Cook].

"You have to earn the right to play. It's important to have people tracking back, which is something the new lads are not used to, but they work hard in training and they'll learn.

"We had a lot of the ball at United, and on it we did well: from a neutral point of view it was good, but from the manager's point of view they didn't work hard enough. Sheffield United is not an easy place to go and you need to put out a side that can battle and get a result.

"Mikele Leigertwood tracked all the time and once they do that sort of thing it'll be better.

"It'll be a shock going to places like Blackpool on a Tuesday night. You get games like those, but as long as they learn from them, that's all that matters."

Mahon was left out of the starting XI against the Blades despite a commanding performance throughout the 90 minutes at Loftus Road against Barnsley.

He was not happy with manager Iain Dowie's decision, but has great respect for what he is trying to achieve in west London and expects him to be in charge for a long time to come.

"The gaffer pulled me to one side and told me I was the best player against Barnsley but that he was going to keep the same midfield [that ended the first league match]," he continued."He wanted to keep the same system and pass United off the park. I wasn't happy: one minute I'm captain on the opening day and then I'm dropped. But that's football.

"He's a top, top coach. As a bloke and as a coach he is great for this football club, and will prove that given time."

Mahon looked ahead to the Hoops' weekend clash with an unbeaten Doncaster - in the second tier for the first time in half a century - and refused to be drawn on the squad's expectations this season.

"The people I've spoken to tell me they like to get the ball down and pass it," he said.

"They play attacking football and the momentum from last season has carried into this one, as often happens.

"You hear about other clubs' expectations, like Birmingham, but we don't think about it; we've a new squad, with a new manager, and new ideas.

"We just need to work hard to get results and gel the new lads in."

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport