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Queens Park Rangers captain Nedum Onuoha has warned Middlesbrough FC that they will face a tough game at Loftus Road after the international break.

High-flying Boro got their automatic promotion push back on track on Friday night with a last-gasp win over Hull City, and now Aitor Karanka’s side have a 10-day gap until their televised trip to QPR next Friday evening.

There they will come up against ex-striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for the second time this season, with the Dutchman having been in charge of Burton Albion in August 2015 when Boro were 2-1 winners at the Pirelli Stadium in the Capital One Cup.

Hasselbaink’s QPR are in decent form, unbeaten in their last three matches and having beaten Birmingham, Derby and Brentford in their last three games on home soil.

Read more Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 'proud' to hear Boro fans sing his name

The Championship promotion race has now been put on ice for a few days, but QPR skipper Onuoha has warned Boro that they will come up against a confident R’s outfit next week.

“It will be good to have a break in fixtures, so that we can work hard on what will see us through for the rest of the season,” Onuoha told the club’s website.

“The games come so thick and fast, and it’s hard to work on certain things when that’s the case.

“It (Middlesbrough) should be a decent game. When we played them towards the end of 2015, we were very unlucky to lose 1-0, going down to an injury-time penalty .

“However, I’d like to think that we’re much-improved now. We need to make sure it’s a tough game for them, on our own patch. I fully believe that it will be.”

QPR midfielder Karl Henry echoed his captain’s comments, adding that the west London outfit can benefit from the international break ahead of a busy run-in.

(Image: Getty Images)

“This is definitely a good period for us and it is clear to all that we have turned a corner,” Henry told qpr.co.uk.

“We feel really solid now. As a team all over the pitch we seem to have players who are playing well and gelling together.”

“A break can do you good and give you time to refresh. We train hard. Something the manager has done since he’s come in is train us very, very hard. You get through it and you feel better for it, but having a break is a vital part of it.

“We’ll come back refreshed and ready to go, I’m sure. One thing the manager hasn’t allowed is for us to take the foot off the gas.

“We’re not going to go down, it’s looking unlikely now that we are going to make the play-offs, but there’s no complacency here.

“He wants us to keep going and keep winning games.”