Midfielder Joey Barton feels QPR have been "f*****g about too much" in their battle to avoid relegation from the Barclays Premier League.

Rangers - currently 19th in the table, a point adrift of safety - were punished for sloppy play in Saturday's 3-1 loss at Stoke, their third straight defeat in a winless run of six league matches which extended their wait to collect their first away point of the season to 11 games.

And Barton, whose side face Saints at Loftus Road next Saturday, has since delivered a blunt, expletive-laden assessment of QPR's troubles.

"We've got to become a lot harder to beat," Barton said.

"It's the same story every time - umpteen times this season we've been our own worst enemy and it's not f*****g good enough.

"QPR were s**t the last time they were in the Premier League under Mark Hughes (Stoke's manager, who was in charge at QPR from January to November 2012 and saw the Londoners claim just two away points in that time).

"They were crap away from home - the away record was terrible, so it's not just something that has happened this year.

"Last year (when QPR were promoted from the Championship) we were better away because we faced teams who didn't have the quality of the Premier League - simple as that.

"You play Barnsley away - no disrespect - and make a mistake, and maybe it doesn't end up in the back of your net.

"You make a mistake at this level it's in the back of your net.

"It's the Premier League, it's not the f*****g about league and we've been f*****g about too much."

Meanwhile, Rs boss Harry Redknapp insists he is anticipating his transfer deadline day will be "quiet" - although he is keen to recruit a new striker.

"I'm expecting a quiet day on Monday," Redknapp said.

"I've been at clubs where I've not had to bring in any players, like at Tottenham - I didn't even need to be in, and could've gone home very early.

"That's how you want it really. You want a team where you don't need to improve and you're quite happy with what you've got.

"But we are looking because we're short in one or two areas. We've got two strikers - Bobby (Zamora) and Charlie (Austin) - and it's an area where we could do with a bit more.

"Only Charlie has got goals this year, and I need someone else who might score a goal - a proven goalscorer."

Redknapp has said that Tottenham frontman Emmanuel Adebayor "would do" QPR if a deal was viable.