Nathan Jones has hailed Albion as “first class” after holding Championship title favourites Queens Park Rangers.

A 0-0 draw at Loftus Road last night was enough to take Rangers to the top of the table but all the plaudits went to Oscar Garcia’s injury and suspension-hit Seagulls.

Assistant head coach Jones said: “I thought it was first class. We went about our business very, very well. It’s a very difficult place to come and they won’t drop many points here.

“It was an excellent performance, a real proper away performance. We did our jobs, we did all the ugly stuff really well.

“We could have nicked one on the break or from a set play because I thought we had good variation there, and all in all it was a great night’s work.”

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Loan signing Craig Conway made his debut in place of Kazenga LuaLua and Ashley Barnes spearheaded the attack in the absence of the banned Leo Ulloa as Albion, fresh from the same result at Reading on Sunday, moved up two places to 13th after stretching their unbeaten run to five matches.

Jones said: “Kazenga did very well on Sunday. We are very wary of over-playing him while he is gaining match fitness.

“We were going to play Craig for 60 minutes and bring Kazenga on when the game opened up. With the injuries we had and the way the game went we felt we couldn’t quite do that but we were very pleased with Craig.

“He played longer than we thought. He got better as the game wore one. Ashley Barnes was magnificent in terms of leading the line. We wanted a big performance from him and he gave it to us.”

Stephen Ward was substituted as a precaution in the closing stages after suffering a kick on the Achilles and Kemy Agustien did not travel after pulling out of training on Tuesday with a minor injury.

Keith Andrews, outstanding again last night, misses Bolton’s visit on Saturday under the terms of his loan move from the Lancastrians.