Barton warns team-mates

Queens Park Rangers skipper Joey Barton has warned his team-mates they are all playing for their futures ahead of the run-in.

QPR sit one point adrift of safety in 18th place in the Premier League, facing an uphill struggle to avoid the drop in their first season back in the top flight.
The Rs have eight games to rescue their season, starting with a clash against red-hot Arsenal at Loftus Road on Saturday.

Barton, who was dropped for the 3-1 defeat at Sunderland last time out after a poor performance against Liverpool, is well aware relegation from the Premier League at the first time of asking could see wholesale changes at the club. Anyone placing a Bet Victor bet will know they need to change their tunes.

"This is more than a game of football now. The next eight games govern our futures," Barton told the club's official website.

"There are lads here whose careers are on the line - all the lads need to realise that. If we don't, we'll be punished for it."

QPR have spent plenty of money since they travelled to Arsenal on New Year’s Eve but have failed to pull away from the relegation zone. In fact, they sit one place worse off than at the beginning of the January transfer window.

The Hoops fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat on that occasion and will arguably face a tougher challenge this time around against the league’s form side. Fans of Bet Victor betting need to bear this in mind.

Barton believes QPR can take heart from their display at Emirates Stadium.

"I feel when we went to the Emirates we acquitted ourselves really well. I think we deserved to get something out of the game," Barton added.

"The manner of that defeat was frustrating, because we gave a good account of ourselves."

Mark Hughes’ side will need to better that performance if they are to boost their survival hopes.