QPR skipper Joey Barton believes they need nine points to beat the drop.

QPR are two points adrift of safety but have the games available to them to claw their way out of trouble with contests against West Ham, Newcastle and Leicester all representing a good chance of picking up three points.

Barton told Fulham Chronicle: "I'd like us to be safe before that of course, but we can't even start thinking about that because the next game is the most important one.

"I'm not just rolling that out, it literally is for us. Saturday's was huge for us, so was Tuesday, if we'd won it would have put a different complexion on it.

"We have a few difficult games on the road to come (Liverpool and Man City). There is no game where we can say 'we'll win that - there isn't one of those about'. Everyone has to earn the right to stay in the League.

"I think you're going to need 34-35 points. We have 26 so we need at least another three wins to give ourselves a fighting chance.

"The way the teams are playing at the bottom now, like with Leicester winning at the weekend, it might need more than that. It makes for a fantastic spectacle because I think the championship is over."