Warnock played a stronger team than he would have liked in Tuesday night's 2-0 second-round defeat and paid the price when Orr limped off with a groin problem. The manager is working hard to address the areas of weakness in his squad, aided by new majority shareholder Tony Fernandes, and the club are now in talks to sign midfielder Joey Barton from Newcastle. "I didn't want to play the senior guys, but it shows the depth we have at the moment that I had to pick them," he said on Tuesday night. "I didn't want to play Orr or Matthew Connolly for exactly the reason that happened - Orr going off with a groin injury. But we don't have anyone else. "What we saw against Rochdale is the cover we have in the squad. "That's why we need at least six new players in the first-team squad to supplement what we've got to give us half a chance." Warnock was delighted that mercurial playmaker Adel Taarabt came through the match unscathed. "I was really pleased with Taarabt's attitude. He doesn't train very well so he has to play. He doesn't like training," he said. "He came through the game which is good because he does need three games in a week to just push him on. "He looked good last Saturday fitness-wise, the best he's been apart from the last 15 minutes. "If we can get another game out of him on Saturday before the international break then he'll be back to where he should be for the Newcastle game." Warnock's squad became even lighter on Wednesday when defender Kaspars Gorkss completed his move from QPR to npower Championship outfit Reading for an undisclosed fee. The 29-year-old has penned a three-and-a-half-year deal at the Madejski Stadium after ending his association with the Rs, for whom he made 124 appearances after joining from Blackpool in 2008. Gorkss was a regular in Warnock's Championship-winning side last season. The Latvia international was touted as a makeweight in a move for Southampton winger Jason Puncheon earlier this summer but has now joined the Royals. "Kaspars has been a tremendous servant to the club and was instrumental in helping us reach the Premier League," Warnock told club's official website. "I'm delighted that he's going to a good club like Reading." Rochdale manager Steve Eyre was delighted with his side's performance at Loftus Road. "This is a fantastic scalp for the club and we'll take great honour from it," he said. "We want to pass the ball and we did that against QPR. We also saw the benefit of going 1-0 up."
