Back-to-back defeats have seen the Tigers drop out of the play-off places following an excellent start to the campaign. The rejuvenated Chris Willock put the hosts ahead with his third goal in as many matches and Ilias Chair’s second-half finish sealed the victory.

Rangers remain in the Sky Bet Championship bottom three but have lost just one of their six matches since Cifuentes took over a side which had suffered six straight defeats and were in danger of being cut adrift.

Rosenior said: “We’ve made a lot of progress, but the next step for this team is to be pragmatic in key moments and understand the context of the game. At that point of the game we had complete control and then gave them a goal. It was a great finish from Willock but it comes from our possession.

Liam Rosenior, Hull City manager (Picture: Bruce Rollinson)

“A goal just before half-time changes everything in terms of QPR’s confidence levels and energy from the crowd.”

The second goal came after Hull keeper Ryan Allsop had been pressured by Sinclair Armstrong, with Willock collecting the resulting loose ball and teeing up Chair for a cool finish.

Hull had their moments, with Asmir Begovic’s second-half saves proving to be crucial.

The veteran produced another excellent stop late on, reacting quickly to push away a long-range curler from Sean McLoughlin.

Rosenior said: “I ask my team to play, but at that moment we’re on top – just kick the ball and if it goes out for a throw-in then we reorganise and get control of the game again. What I will never do is blame players for mistakes. But what I will do is demand from them that we learn from the mistakes.

“There’s so much good in the way we play, if we iron out those mistakes then we’re in a really good place.

“This is the understanding of where we are as a team. We’re a young team that have to learn on the job. But the basis of our play is very good.”

QPR: Begovic, Cannon (Kakay 75), Cook, Clarke-Salter, Paal, Field, Dozzell, Smyth (Armstrong 67), Chair (Dixon-Bonner 85), Willock (Kelman 86), Dykes (Larkeche 76). Unused substitutes: Dunne, Archer, Richards, Drewe.

Hull City: Allsop, Christie, McLoughlin, Greaves, Coyle, Morton, Seri (Tufan 76), Traore (Connolly 46), Twine (Vaughan 90), Philogene (Slater 51), Delap (Sellars-Fleming 90). Unused substitutes: Ingram, Docherty, Smith, Jacob.

Referee: J Bell (Yorkshire).

'We need to learn from mistakes' - Hull City boss after QPR defeat