Goals from Bradley Orr and Heidur Helguson - both setup by the magical Adel Taarabt - sealed a comfortable 2-0 win for the Hoops.
Although Taarabt will rightly take a lot of praise for the result, Adkins was aware it starkly laid bare the weaknesses in his team.
"We missed out on a couple of players last week. I'm hoping to hear from a couple of managers this week about some players we've targeted on loan too. They are much sought after though so we face strong competition," he said.
"We conceded a couple of poor goals. The first was a free header and we were caught out for the second, but in the second half we did a lot better.
"Rob Jones was ill before the game so we were without him and David Mirfin - two key defenders - against a very good side, and that made things difficult for our younger players.
"We're trying to give our players a chance to develop and improve, but are also working very hard with the resources we have to try and improve things.
"We tried to present QPR with problems, and credit must go to them because under Neil Warnock they're showing a work-ate that they maybe haven't shown in the past.
"We played a good team with talented individuals but they also worked extremely hard and that's why I think they can finish in the top two."
Neil Warnock, the Rangers manager, felt the result was a measure of revenge for the heavy defeat the Iron inflicted on his Crystal Palace side at Selhurst Park last season.
"It was a difficult game because everybody expects you to beat Scunthorpe, and that's no disrespect to them," he said.
"When I was at Crystal Palace last season they beat us 4-0 - I nearly packed it in that night - and they beat QPR too. So I'm pleased to have got this win.
"But I'm not kidding myself that we're the finished article. I'd say we're sixth to 10th in terms of squads, but if we can get a couple of strikers I'll have a good squad."