Socceroo Luongo won't change style for Warnock

Australia star Massimo Luongo insists he won’t be changing the way he plays amid concerns that Queens Park Rangers' old-school caretaker coach Neil Warnock might not be the man to best appreciate his intuitive talents.

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Luongo was an unused substitute for the dour goalless draw against Bailey Wright's Preston North End over the weekend.

It was 66-year-old Warnock's first game in charge after taking the baton from sacked Chris Ramsey.

Luongo views the looming FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh as timely opportunities to refresh and refocus away from the tribulations at Loftus Road.

He admits to not knowing “too much” about the veteran coach, who is in his second coming at QPR, but is far from spooked by those who say he may not fit the Warnock template of hustle-bustle players with a penchant for route-one football.

“I am not going to be somebody I am not on the pitch just to get in the team, or what not,” Luongo said.

“I play the way I play and if he wants to use me, then he will use me. He definitely has a good history with a few cubs in getting them promoted and stuff.

“Time will tell if it’s (his arrival) is a good thing for me or not. All I can do is train as best as I can and play as well as I can if I’m picked. That’s all I can ask for.”

Luongo was used in an advanced role by previous coach Ramsey, but he is keen to drop back into a more natural central midfield position.

Ramsey was one of Luongo’s mentors during the midfielder's spell at Tottenham’s academy. Along with director of football Les Ferdinand, Ramsey was instrumental in bringing Luongo to Loftus Road from Swindon Town at the end of last season.

The fickleness of football is not lost on Luongo.

“Managers come and go and it's one of those things you have to get used it as footballers," he said.

“Obviously Chris brought me in and he was a big help as Spurs and I am thankful to him for signing me and giving me a shot at QPR. It’s not nice any manager getting sacked, especially if you know them at a certain personal level.

“I wish him all the best. He's a brilliant coach and anywhere he goes will benefit from having him around.”

With QPR marooned in 13th spot after dropping down from the Premier League, Luongo acknowledges expectations have been far from fulfilled, especially with Hull City and Burnley,  who were also relegated, holding two of the top three spots in the Championship.

“Expectations where quite high, especially when we didn't sell a lot of our key players, as was expected," Luongo said.

“We've been a bit inconsistent and because of the squad we have, people have expected to see us pushing hard for promotion, which can still be within our reach."

In camp for Thursday’s duel in Canberra against Kyrgyzstan and the trip to Dhaka five days later, Luongo is happy for the respite of his return to the green and gold.

“I always enjoy being away playing of my country and won’t be thinking about club football too much, and just focusing on what we have to do in these two really important games,” Luongo said.

“I haven’t played every game (for QPR) but have been involved a lot, and when I have been out I have come back in and felt better for it.” 

“Whoever I play for, whether its QPR or Australia, I just enjoy playing.”

After the shock 2-0 loss in Jordan, Australia are four points off top spot in Group B, needing maximum points to keep the pressure on their Middle Eastern foes.

“If we perform the way we can against Kyrgyzstan then we will get the points we need,” he said.

“But of course we have to look at what went wrong against Jordan and make sure we don’t recreate that."