QPR Manager Paulo Sousa refused to give up hope of a late push for the play-offs despite seeing his side defeated 2-1 by Barnsley at Oakwell.

Speaking to www.qpr.co.uk, Sousa said: "This result hasn't damaged my ambitions. My goal this season is to build a solid base for the future. That future is next season. But, if you are in and around the play-offs, like we are, you must think play-offs. "

Damien Delaney cancelled out Daniel Bogdanovic's opener, but Anderson de Silva made the most of havoc in the R's penalty area in an eventful first half. Rangers had lined up more adventurously for the trip to Barnsley, with Heidar Helguson joined by Dexter Blackstock in attack.

Sousa revealed that he had tinkered with his formation, saying: "From the start, we wanted to win this match, and we went for the three points. But if you risk some things you risk losing control.

"In the first half, we controlled the match better and could've scored more goals. Especially after we conceded, we continued to create chances and control the game. When we equalised, we could've gone in at half time leading but instead we conceded again.

"In the second half, we wanted to risk a little bit more, trying to get back into the match, but ultimately we didn't manage to do that."

Sousa was quick to dismiss speculation that the loss had damaged the R's promotion hopes, pointing to the fact that there were still matches to be won and points to be collected, starting with Norwich City on Tuesday: "What's important is that the teams around us all dropped points. So while we didn't capitalise on that, our position is still as it was.

"Every time, we are looking for the three points and I am happy with the effort my players showed in trying to achieve that. We've got two home games now and that presents us with another chance to begin another run of results. Six points will help us a lot."

Today's match also saw recent arrival Jordi Lopez make his Rangers bow and Sousa was quick to praise his newest signing: "I think he did well. He has good quality, great delivery, but he has not played a lot recently. He needs a few more games but that's the great thing about this league - there are matches coming thick and fast. He can help us a lot in those games."

Lopez will have another chance to shine on Tuesday, and Sousa wanted to reassure fans that the match with Norwich presents a glorious opportunity: "In our league, everything is possible. We still believe we can achieve something this season and anything is possible. You need to believe that anything can happen and it will."