Flavio Briatore wants to make Gareth Ainsworth the manager of Queens Park Rangers. The QPR chairman has been so impressed with Ainsworth since he became the caretaker manager last Friday that he is preparing to offer him a full-time contract. “I want to work with Gareth,” Briatore told The Times yesterday, “He has done a perfect job so far.” QPR beat Birmingham City 1-0 on Tuesday despite playing the second half with ten men and drew 0-0 with Reading in Ainsworth's first match in charge last Saturday.

“The commitment of the players since last weekend has been fantastic,” Briatore said. “This is the QPR I want to see. Everyone says that we need someone with experience but sometimes you have to give someone a chance to get experience.”

Ainsworth, the 35-year-old player-coach, was thrust into the spotlight when Briatore dismissed Iain Dowie after their relationship broke down. Briatore has been accused of making Dowie's position untenable by telling him which players to pick but the Italian insists that he did nothing wrong.

“I was not happy with results and the football we were playing,” he said. “Surely I'm allowed to ask the manager why don't you play some of the players we signed in the summer? This is not picking the team, it is just normal discussion between people in sport.”