Match report: QPR 1 Albion 1

He was right, although not in the way he would have wished.

It now looks as much a case of when rather than if Albion are relegated following events in West London and South Yorkshire.

Their failure to beat a side reduced to ten men for the last 40 minutes, combined with Sheffield Wednesday's home win over Preston, has opened a seven-point gap with seven matches left.

This Saturday probably represents the Seagulls' last chance. They are at home to Luton, while Wednesday are at Wolves and Millwall at Watford.

If that seven-point gap has not narrowed then the remainder of the season for Albion is likely to be more about who goes down with them, bearing in mind the trip to Millwall on April Fool's Day and the visit of Sheffield on Easter Monday.

Manager Mark McGhee, clinging to hope after a below-par performance by his side, said: "We expected at some point Sheffield Wednesday to win a game. I didn't expect them to win on Saturday.

"We know we have got to win a couple of games but I think we've known for some time we have to beat Sheffield Wednesday to have any chance of staying up.

"The thing for us will be to try to win one more game than them between now and playing them. If we can get within three or four points when we play them then it will make an interesting run-in."

Luck, for once, was on Albion's side against Rangers. A rush of blood by the experienced Kevin Gallen just after half-time, resulting in the first red card of his long career, presented them with a numerical advantage.

Marcus Bignot then handed, or rather headed, them a point which their display did not deserve with a needless own goal 11 minutes from time.

A lacklustre showing by the Seagulls was epitomised by the performances of Alex Frutos and Seb Carole.

The two Frenchmen have been influential for much of the season but the rigours of an English winter appear to have caught up with them.

Frutos was at fault for Rangers' early goal, when he did not track the run of the outstanding Gareth Ainsworth. He was substituted midway through the second half, by which time Carole had already been taken off.

McGhee said: "We picked Seb and Alex and hoped they were going to perform in a game where we knew it was going to be high tempo and difficult and they were going to get closed down quickly. We thought we needed their ability but I have got to ask myself should I have started with two midfield players that were going to compete and maybe later in the game brought on those two?

"Unfortunately, Joel (Lynch) hadn't fully recovered (from illness) and we didn't think we could risk him, otherwise we might not have lost that goal.

"Seb has said himself this is the first time he has ever played something like 30 games. That's new to them and they are still young.

"They did not come here with loads of experience even in France. It's a big ask of them. We now have to think seriously about how we use them."

Ainsworth's seventh goal of the campaign in the 13th minute was a poor one to concede, a header from Lee Cook's diagonal cross after a run into the box which took him goal side of Frutos.

McGhee knew Albion would not be in for an easy ride against Rangers, despite their mid-table position, and the long-haired Ainsworth epitomised their attitude.

The right winger's rugged determination was the highlight of a first half in which he gave Adam El-Abd a torrid time.

McGhee switched his fullbacks with half-an-hour played and with El-Abd in danger of being sent-off, having already been booked.

The trouble was Adam Hinshelwood had been almost as uncomfortable on the opposite flank against the talented Cook.

Albion were getting nowhere fast when Gallen inexplicably lashed out at the inspirational Paul McShane off-the-ball, right in the line of sight of referee Anthony Leake, to continue the pattern of tempestuous affairs between the teams.

The Rangers faithful clearly felt McShane made a meal of the incident and he was loudly booed every time he touched the ball thereafter, not that it made any difference. The young Irishman's admirable strength of character saw to that.

The Seagulls' improvement was marginal once Gallen had been dismissed. They had not mustered a worthwhile effort on goal when Bignot, under no great pressure, nodded Gary Hart's cross past his own keeper Paul Jones as Carole's replacement Joe Gatting made a nuisance of himself inside the box.

Even then Albion might have lost, Rangers' lively young substitute Shabazz Baidoo miskicking on the stroke of full-time with the goal at his mercy.

McGhee admitted: "In the first half we were poor. For a game of such importance we really did not get close enough to them, we didn't really compete well enough.

"We lost a sloppy goal, a cross and that one again at the back post which we have seen a few times in my time here, where someone comes in on the blind side. He (Ainsworth) came in on the back post and Alex Frutos has got to do better.

"The sending off was the turning point. Until then we were huffing and puffing and didn't look like getting a goal.

"We don't doubt the character of our young players but it wasn't good enough. We have only drawn against ten men."

In normal circumstances a draw away to Rangers is acceptable. In Albion's plight it could prove to be the day realistic hope of avoiding the drop evaporated.

Albion (4-4-2): Henderson 7; Hinshelwood 6, McShane 8, Butters 6, El-Abd 5; Carole 5, Carpenter 6, Hammond 6, Frutos 5; Hart 7, Kazim-Richards 6. Subs: Dodd 6 for El-Abd (withdrawn 54), Gatting 6 for Carole (withdrawn 58), Loft 5 for Frutos (withdrawn 65), Martin, Reid.

Ranger (4-4-2): Jones; Bignot, Shittu, Evatt, Milanese; Ainsworth, Bircham, Lomas, Cook; Nygaard, Gallen. Subs: Youssouf for Nygaard (withdrawn 62), Baidoo for Cook (withdrawn 62), Royce, Santos, Langley.