Tom Cairney was delighted with Fulham’s west London derby win at QPR on Saturday but the club captain has far too much experience of the Championship to consider promotion secured.

The Scottish international returned to Marco Silva’s starting line-up at the Kiyan Prince Foundation stadium and told the club’s official website that he relished returning to the white heat of a local derby.

“I enjoyed it a lot. A London derby is always good to play in and we’ve had a good record at their place since I’ve been at the club – it’s been a nice ground for us. The atmosphere was top as well – a sellout. We brought a lot and when the second goal went in it was great for them, they were amazing from minute one. Obviously it was a disappointing result just before the international break so we had to perform and get a win and they played a big part in that. Every time I’ve played this season it’s been brilliant. It’s been good to come into a good side and a confident side. I tried to stamp my mark on the game which I thought I did and I think in the end we could’ve scored more goals.”

The general consensus is that Fulham are champions-elect, but Cairney knows that the Whites will have to be right on top of their game at the Riverside on Wednesday night against a Middlesbrough side with promotion aspirations of their own.

They’re a decent side. They had a great FA Cup run and scored four the other day so they’ll be full of confidence and looking to scalp us. It’s a difficult away day but our away form has been fantastic all season. We’ll go there to win.

Nothing will ever surprise me in this league. Teams can go on big runs of either winning or losing so we’re going to have to be seriously at it to win any game in this league and nothing changes from our point of view.”