Nedum Onuoha and Jamie Mackie among players set to leave this summer

Queens Park Rangers boss Ian Holloway paid tribute to Jamie Mackie and skipper Nedum Onuoha following his team’s 3-1 Championship win at home to Birmingham City.

The pair, along with James Perch, will leave the Rs when their contracts expire this summer.

Onuoha and Mackie were given rousing receptions when brought on as second-half substitutes against the Blues.

QPR had to come from behind to triumph after conceding a Che Adams goal in the 27th minute.

However, goals from Bright Osayi-Samuel, Ilias Chair and Matt Smith secured the win for the Loftus Road side.

Holloway said: “It’s a very emotional day for all of us. I’m so proud of my senior players and what they’ve done to help these younger lads.

“It was always going to be a situation where some of the old guard might have to leave in the end.

“I think the dignity they’ve shown and the way we’ve thanked them has been more than I could have hoped for.

“I want to thank them because this year has been tough but they’ve been wonderful behind the scenes.

“When you know you’ve got wonderful men and you might not be able to keep them at your company, it’s worth saying thanks.

“As Nedum said in his programme notes, nothing lasts forever. But hopefully he’ll remember that send-off because I’ll remember him and Jamie and all the people we won’t have next year.

“Can we now move the place forward? It’s a rebuilding process and I’m delighted with the potential we’ve got here.”

Birmingham boss Garry Monk, meanwhile, believes his team played with fear, saying: ““We knew coming here we had the opportunity to secure our survival and that’s what we came with the intention to do.

“I was surprised in the sense that we played with a little bit of fear of the situation. I haven’t seen that from them.

“We’ve been meeting this challenge head-on, putting in our maximum on the pitch, and today we played with a little bit of fear which means you play within yourself and hope your team-mates are going to do something to get you out of it.

“We haven’t been approaching it like that, so it was quite strange to see it.