QPR boss Michael Beale hailed star forward Chris Willock's 'excellent' performance after he netted the only goal in a 1-0 win over top of the table Sheffield United.

The R's had only recorded two wins at Bramall Lane in their last 14 visits, so Hoops fans would have been forgiven for fearing the worst after a goalless first half. 

However, Willock came to the rescue, playing a smart one-two with on-loan Manchester United defender Ethan Laird before squeezing his shot between Blades 'keeper Wes Foderingham and his near post. 

The result leaves Beale's side in fourth after 12 games, three points behind the Blades in first. 

And former Sao Paulo and Aston Villa coach Beale hailed the impact of his striker, who now has six Championship goals to his name this term. 

He said: "Chris [Willock] is one of the better players in the league.

"He has been excellent this year and scored some great goals coming back.

"We have been away to Bristol [City] and away again tonight, and we go again on Friday." 

QPR will take on Reading at Loftus Road on Friday night just, just 72 hours on from their win against the Blades. 

The game will be shown live on Sky Sports, but Beale believes that the busy schedule is impacting the quality of football in the league. 

He added: "If you want the best players in this league to perform… it's important we don't devalue the product, as the Championship is an unbelievable league with 23 teams that can all beat each other.

"We are travelling home to get home at God knows what time and on Friday night we are live on Sky. Why Friday, and not Saturday and Sunday? That's what will cause muscle injuries."

The Hoops now have a four-point gap between themselves and Sunderland in seventh, just outside of the play-offs, but Beale insists there is still plenty of room for improvement in West London.

“They are setting the standards and they must improve on them," demanded Beale.

"There were areas of tonight’s game that I wasn’t pleased with but that’s not important right now. 

“What’s important now is we went away from home, kept a clean sheet and got three points against a team that was unbeaten in ten games. 

“Let’s just take that for what it is. We will pick the bones out of it after Reading. We don’t have time to think about what happened tonight, we just need to prepare for a really big game against Reading.”