Ramsey upbeat despite late Saints defeat

Ramsey and Kevin Bond took charge for Saturday's clash at Loftus Road following the exit of Harry Redknapp, who resigned as manager on Tuesday citing the strains of imminent knee surgery.

The relegation-threatened London club held firm for much of the encounter and had chances to take all three points, only for an injury-time strike from Sadio Mane to doom them to a 15th league loss of the season.

Defeat appears to have been doubly damaging for QPR, who saw defender Richard Dunne limp off late on with reported knee ligament damage while they also lost top scorer Charlie Austin to a suspected broken bone in his right foot.

Yet Ramsey sees plenty of reason for supporters to be upbeat over their prospects.

"If I'm being honest, first half I think we rode our luck a little bit," Ramsey said. "It's always difficult when you give away a goal at such a late time - very difficult to take.

"It gives a lot of hope to the owners and fans that at least the players are trying their best to keep the club in the division.

"On another day, you come away with a victory or draw for sure.

"It's always very difficult when you're at the bottom. It seems like the luck always goes against you. It's very difficult to keep believing in whatever gameplan you put together, but you have to have one plan.

"You put two wins together and you could end up well away from the people in the relegation zone. Everybody in the bottom is still in with a fighting chance."

Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood is the heavy favourite to take over from Redknapp, but Ramsey confirmed he and Bond will oversee Tuesday's trip to Sunderland.

"All they've [the club's hierarchy] said is that myself and Kevin will run the team on Tuesday," he added. "From the players' point of view, all I can say is they've responded quite well.

"I can keep the seat warm for as long as the owners see fit."