QPR head coach Julien Stephan was philosophical after his side suffered a 4-0 home defeat to promotion-chasing Middlesbrough on Sunday.
The Hoops have now lost three straight games by a combined 11-0, despite starting each half brightly for around 15 minutes.
“When you lose against a top, top team, you have to accept [it],” Stephan said. “And they are better than us. This is the reality. They deserve their win.
“They had more quality, individually and collectively. More quality with the ball and without the ball. I have to say that we lost against a better team than us.
“We will not face an opponent like this every time, but we need to be able to show more quality in possession.
“In the last three games we didn’t score. In football if you don’t score and are only in defensive positions it’s very difficult to get a good result.
“Of course we are not happy. It’s a difficult moment when you lose three games in a row and you concede many goals.
“But I want to protect my players, because I know them and I know they tried to give their best. We need to stay together.”
The R’s will seek to get back on track as they head to Birmingham City on Wednesday (19:45 GMT).