PERHAPS inevitably, Queens Park Rangers v Burnley was previewed as being a tale of two strikers; the up-and-coming Danny Ings, firmly established as an England Under-21 international and starting to find his feet in the Premier League and Charlie Austin, the highest scoring Englishman in the top flight, looking to force his way into Roy Hodgson’s reckoning.

In the event it was Austin, with an assist and a goal, who came out on top.

Ings, by contrast, endured one of those frustrating afternoons where nothing quite came off.

MORE TOP STORIES:

That said, there’s a compelling argument which says that on another day with another referee, Austin would not have been on the pitch to score his 74th minute goal.

Many officials would have deemed his ludicrously late lunge on Kieran Trippier deserving of a red, rather than the yellow that Jon Moss handed out.

In fact that challenge, along with a lack of restraint when celebrating his goal against his former employer and the stray elbow which poleaxed Michael Keane and led to his dismissal, betrayed a disappointing and hitherto unseen lack of class in the 25 year-old.

But whilst Austin at least left his mark, Ings managed to show only glimpses of his true capabilities; a thrilling first-half gallop from half-way into the opposition box ended with the 22-year-old slightly over-running the ball at the crucial moment.

His only real chance in the second half was a back-post header which he couldn’t get quite direct on target.

He will enjoy better afternoons.

Still, at least Ings was on the pitch long enough to try and influence proceedings, which is more than could be said for Lukas Jutkiewicz and Marvin Sordell.

Jutkiewicz was given just four minutes to make an impact whilst Sordell was introduced with just a minute to go. It’s legitimate to wonder what the point was.

Austin’s early exit meant that Rangers were reduced to 10 men with 14 minutes still to play. Surely then was the time to send for the cavalry and see whether or not fresh legs and maybe a change in formation and approach might cause the home defence to buckle.

Saturday’s defeat was all the harder to take given the run of games between now and the end of the year.

It’s hard to see where points will come from in a sequence of Southampton (home), Spurs (away), Liverpool (home) and Manchester City (away).

Burnley, who now sit second bottom two points adrift of 17th, will have done well to still be in touch with safety by the time they visit St James’ Park on New Year’s Day.