The cup was half full for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink as QPR were beaten 3-1 by Groningen in Holland - the fourth and last friendly in the homeland of the Rs gaffer.

Hasselbaink admitted they were up against a team who played in Europe last season, but was both frowns and smiles as the new high press game of players in the opposition half met with mixed success.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas scored his third goal of pre-season, and although Karl Henry previously admitted he was a fan of the high press - clearly some of his team-mates need time to adjust.

Tough test

Hasselbaink told www.qpr.co.uk: “Look, no-one wants to lose football matches, but it was a really good test for us.

“We were able to give certain players 90 minutes and others got more important minutes under their belts.

“Let’s not get things twisted – Groningen are a very good side who played in European competition last season, so it was always going to be a tough test.

“Although the high press didn’t work as well as I’d have liked, there were times when it did. But for it to work properly, you need everyone to participate and not everyone did. We can do that a lot better.

“We didn’t keep the ball quite as well as I’d have liked, we lost it too quickly at times – that is something we need to improve on.

“But it was a really good practice game, a really good test against a very good side.

We created some good chances in the first half but lacked the killer instinct that we need. That has to come ASAP, because we had chances to get more goals and we need to punish teams better.

Fans tribute

Rangers fans turned up in numbers to swell the 5,000 crowd in Veendam - and that was a definite positive for the head coach.

“I want to thank the fans who have come out here to support us,” he added.

“There were QPR fans all around the stadium tonight and on behalf of the whole club, I want to tell them that their support is really appreciated.”

QPR: Ingram, Furlong, Caulker, Lynch (Hall 52), Kpekawa, Henry, Doughty (Borysiuk 72), Petrasso (Kakay 40), Chery (Shodipo 46), El Khayati (Grego-Cox 79), Emmanuel-Thomas (Polter 66).

Subs not used: Lumley, Onuoha, Gladwin, Bidwell, Luongo, Prohouly.

Goals: FC Groningen – Bacuna 13, Kpekawa OG 65, Hoesen (pen) 75; QPR – Emmanuel-Thomas 66