QPR boss reveals Patrick Bamford 'verification' after red card controversy in Leeds United win

Begovic was given his marching orders with the Whites leading 1-0 late on at Elland Road after racing out of his area to challenge Bamford, who went to ground. Replays suggested there was no contact and according to Ainsworth both players involved in the incident were agreed.

“Doesn't touch him,” said the Rangers manager.

"I've had verification from both players there was no contact. Patrick is a great lad, he's jumped out of the way and the referee thought he caught him. Hopefully we may be able to get one overturned, we'll have to speak to the powers that be at QPR to see if we can appeal that. I'm gutted for Asmir, he's been great for me this season.”

Ainsworth saw his men dominated in the first half but they made a fight of it in the second with long balls pumped into the area in the later stages and could have levelled when a ball dropped around the penalty spot for Lyndon Dykes. The Scotland striker hooked goalwards but Leeds stopper Illan Meslier was there to produce a vital stop.

“I’m an eternal optimist,” said Ainsworth.

"I thought we had a few chances later on, if we could have got the crosses better or the final touch. A hell of a lot of money on the pitch for Leeds, big club, full house on a Wednesday night. We knew we would have to work really hard. I was disappointed that on the ball we weren't as good as previous games. We've been playing some great stuff, we didn't really get hold of the ball.

“Asmir made one great save first half, I don't think he was troubled too much in the second half. It was one sloppy moment that cost us early on with that goal. Daniel has said at the end it's always super tough against your teams and I've got to take those compliments and pass them onto the boys. Even with 10 men we were going to try and level. Elland Road is a tough place to come.

“We've had a couple of collapses in our time, when two or three have gone in in a short space of time. They gave everything. I asked them for a bit more output. I wanted more of the committed workrate. That's the final frontier. We gave that tonight but what we lost was the quality on the ball. I think we'll finish much higher than people think we will.”