Queens Park Rangers manager Mark Hughes believes that club captain Joey Barton has a "part to play" in the West London side's fight to stay in the Premier League.

The former Newcastle United midfielder was booed off by home supporters at Loftus Road during Rangers' 3-2 victory over Liverpool on Wednesday.

"There was obviously some criticism of Joey and maybe that was a little bit of frustration of the situation we were finding ourselves in," said Hughes.

"That came through and Joey bore the brunt of that to a certain extent, but he is big enough and strong enough to take that on his shoulders.

"I made the change because he wasn't having the best of evenings and we needed to change the dynamics of the game. Obviously Joey has got a part to play between now and the end of the season. He is our captain and he will get on with what he does, which is playing football."

Barton expressed his displeasure at the jeers via his Twitter account after the game.