Luongo, who has started each game for the Rs in the opening four rounds of their 2016/17 Championship campaign, is not the same attacking outlet that lit up the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia.

The 23-year-old, who shone as a box-to-box midfielder, says he’s still learning to strike the right balance with his defensive duties.

Luongo told the Daily Football Show: “My whole development has been more focused on the ball than off the ball.

“When I go into a Socceroos camp I’m always thinking about getting on the ball and making things happen – trying to score and stuff like that.

“But last year when I wasn’t in the squad for a certain amount of time the manager (Hasselbaink) just spoke to me and said, ‘I need you to prove to me that I can trust you in midfield, you know I need that defensive side of the game from you’.

“It was up to me in training, showing him I could do it – which I can – I just haven’t been asked to do for a long time. And yeah, then I got my chance at the back end of last year.”

Luongo said: “It’s tough to transition when all you're focusing on is defensive – you get on the ball and I’ve got to switch back to the old Massimo and try and make things happen. I think at the moment now I’m trying to find that balance so I can be both on the pitch.

"Sometimes you know I get a little bit of a nice feed and I try and get forward and the manager’s just called me back and said, 'Mass come on, just back up the players'. I’ve found that sometimes. Obviously there’s a time and place for everything and I’ve just got to pick and choose when I can impose myself into the game like that."

QPR currently sit sixth on the Championship table but after a winnning start are coming off back-to-back losses, including a 2-0 defeat to Socceroo Bailey Wright's Preston North End on the weekend.

Despite the recent setback, Luongo credited Hasselbaink for putting the club on a positive path.

He also rejected criticism surrounding the number of Aussies playing in the Championship, among them Socceroos Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield) and Jackson Irvine (Burton Albion). 

The former Tottenham Hotspur junior said he had trouble with questions about the quality of the league, saying to play week in, week out in the Championship was "a massive thing" and made players battle-hardened for the national team. 

"Some games aren’t pretty but you get that everywhere you go. But on the other side it’s even harder when it’s not pretty. It’s a battle and you’ve got to work hard.

"You’re never comfortable – you know you’re playing against the bottom league side and they give you a 3-0 beating because they want to stay up. There’s never an easy game, there’s never a comfortable game in the Championship."