Perone is paying the price for poor early-season performance against Wigan

Bruno Perone’s ‘disappointing’ performance against Wigan earlier in the season is the reason the centre-back has hardly featured for QPR this season, Neil Warnock has revealed.

Brazilian Perone has made just two appearances for the Rs, against Rochdale in the Carling Cup and Wigan in the league, since he signed a one-year deal on a free transfer in the summer.

Franco Di Santo scored twice for the Latics in their 2-0 win over the Rs in August, his second goal deflecting in off Perone.

Perone has been over-looked ever since, with Warnock opting to partner Fitz Hall with Anton Ferdinand at centre-back in Danny Gabbidon’s injury absence, and the Rs boss suggested that first-team appearances may now be few and far between for Perone.

“He’s got to get acclimatised to the English game really, there were certain aspects of his game at Wigan which were disappointing, hence he’s not been involved since,” Warnock told London24. “I thought both the centre-halves could have done better in that match.

“You look at Danny Gabbidon and Anton Ferdinand, and Bruno’s down the pecking order. If he wasn’t, he would have been playing.”

Meanwhile, Wales international centre-back Gabbidon is likely to miss QPR’s home clash with Blackburn on Saturday.

Gabbidon missed the west London derby against Fulham as he recovers from the knee injury he picked up against Aston Villa.

Follow Ian Cooper on Twitter @QPRTimes