Mark Hughes was adamant Djibril Cisse's sending off 'completely changed the context of the game,' as ten-man Rangers succumbed to a narrow 2-1 defeat at home to Wolves.

The R's led through Bobby Zamora's early goal, only for Cisse to raise his hands at Roger Johnson following a poor tackle from the Wanderers skipper, resulting in a red card for the Frenchman.

Wanderers struck back courtesy of Matt Jarvis seconds into the second half, before Kevin Doyle struck a late winner.

"It (the sending off) completely changed the context of the game," Hughes told www.qpr.co.uk.

"We were in complete control and then the red card knocked us out of our stride.

"It was a game I felt really comfortable in. We were so dominant."

Hughes added: "Djibril has apologised to the players. He acknowledged what he did was wrong.

"The way the game is refereed in this country, you can't raise your hands, and Djibril has learnt that the hard way today.

"In his defence, it was a poor challenge from Johnson from behind.

"Having suffered a few horrific injuries before in his time in this country, you can kind of understand why he reacted initially, but his second reaction got him sent off unfortunately."

Despite the defeat, Hughes was encouraged by the way his side stuck to the task in the second half, commenting: "I'm very encouraged by the way we played.

"I'm learning so much about this group of players and the more I see, the more I am encouraged.

"The attitude and the work-rate was very pleasing.

"We could've dealt with their two goals a lot better, but we stuck at it and probably deserved to get something out of the game."

Hughes revealed Luke Young (hamstring) could miss the trip to Blackburn Rovers next weekend, but the Rangers boss hopes to have Heidar Helguson and Jay Bothroyd available for selection at Ewood Park.