Bothroyd plays down debut injury

Jay Bothroyd insists a hamstring problem he picked up against Plymouth will not stop him being fit for the new season.

Bothroyd, who sat out QPR’s first two pre-season friendlies, went off only 31 minutes into his debut on Wednesday night.

But the summer signing from Cardiff is likely to resume training this week and expects to be ready for the start of the Premier League campaign.

“I just had a bit of a spasm in my hamstring and came off as a precaution more than anything,” Bothroyd told West London Sport.

“In terms of fitness I’m a little bit behind the other lads and I wasn’t going to play more than one half anyway. There was no point in playing on and aggravating it.

“I’d rather look after myself now than get injured and miss the start of the season. That’s a month away and I’m still definitely on course to be ready for that.”

Heidar Helguson’s late goal at Home Park gave Rangers the second win of their trip to the south-west, which concludes with a game at Bodmin on Friday night.

“We won, but Plymouth are a couple of weeks ahead of us with their pre-season and I think that showed,” Bothroyd added.

“It’s a process and we’re getting things right for a month down the line. I’ll be ready for the start of the season and so will the team.”