*Charlie Austin struck twice as Queens Park Rangers lifted themselves off the bottom of the Premier League with victory over Aston Villa.*

Rangers took the lead against the run of play when Bobby Zamora laid the ball off for Austin to lash home from the edge of the area in the 17th minute.

The hosts secured victory midway through the second half when Eduardo Vargas raced down the right and crossed for Austin to finish at the near post.

Villa have lost five games in a row.

Perhaps more worrying for Paul Lambert’s side is that they have failed to score in more than eight hours of football since the Scot signed a new four-year deal after beating Liverpool at Anfield on 13 September in that time, they have conceded 13 goals in defeats by Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Everton and now QPR.

QPR, however, are showing signs of improvement - building on an impressive display in last weekend’s 3-2 defeat by Liverpool.

With Zamora supporting Austin up front, they have struck upon a partnership which can cause opposition defences problems.

Austin’s brace was significant in that it lifted Rangers off the bottom of the league for the first time in almost a month - at the expensive of his former club, Burnley.

If his opening goal was a surprise - coming after Villa had caught out the hosts three times on the counter and seen Carlos Sanchez test Rob Green with a 30-yard shot - the second was reward for a change in tack from Harry Redknapp.

While Zamora was causing the Villa defence problems with his physical presence, he once again tired as the second half wore on and, perhaps sensing the need to inject some width into a congested contest, Rangers boss Redknapp replaced the former England striker with winger Junior Hoilett.

Almost immediately, Hoilett cut in from the left and curled a right-footed shot against the post.

Moments later, Sanchez needlessly gave the ball away and Vargas powered down the right before putting in the perfect delivery for Austin to nip in front of his marker and secure victory.

Villa, who had seen Ciaran Clark stab wide from six yards out, sent on Joe Cole and Darren Bent to try to salvage something.

Instead, QPR almost netted a third when Vargas was played in behind the Villa defence but fired a tame shot into the legs of Brad Guzan.

Villa’s best opportunity came when Green failed to hold on to Tom Cleverley’s shot from the edge of the area, but Sandro did just enough to put off Clark at the follow-up.