Nedum Onuoha has warned that QPR must raise their game at Loftus Road, or risk suffering a repeat of Swindon Town’s shock Capital One Cup win.

Rangers were sent tumbling out of the cup by the League One side on Tuesday night, largely thanks to an appalling first hour in which they barely troubled their opponents’ goal.

Nile Ranger gave Swindon the lead shortly before half-time, and, despite QPR raising the tempo in the closing stages, Alex Pritchard sealed victory with the second in injury-time.

While QPR have won two out of two at home in the league, they needed an injury-time winner to beat Ipswich, and had to come from behind against Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day. And defender Onuoha says they must stamp out their sluggish starts.

He said: “We were very off the pace in the first half, and in fairness to Swindon they played very well while we were struggling. They managed to take advantage of that. The slow starts are going to kill us if we keep on doing what we did tonight.

“We need to start quicker at home. Sometimes a goal can change everything. A goal in the first five minutes gets the crowd going, gets the team going and puts them under pressure.

“We allowed them to play and get into their rhythm, they took the game early to us and we weren’t there. It’s a shame we’ve gone out again. As a club our history in the competition is not that impressive.

“There is great disappointment because at home we fancy our chances against everyone, but we just didn’t perform in the first half.”