Perch defied Holloway and stayed on despite injury
James Perch refused to come off despite suffering a knee injury during QPR’s 2-1 win against Hull City at Loftus Road.
With the defender struggling late in the game and Rangers having made all three of their substitutions, Ian Holloway ordered Perch to leave the pitch.
The Rangers manager wanted Perch out of harm’s way and for his team-mates to drop deep and defend in numbers for the final minutes.
But Perch insisted on continuing and stayed on the pitch until the final whistle.
Holloway explained: “I’ve gone mad at Perch because I wanted to bring him off but he wouldn’t come off.
“I wanted to try and get him out the way of being in the danger area for Christ’s sake and he still wouldn’t come off.
“I’m telling someone to come off, we’ve already done the subs and I wanted him to get him off and out of the way so I haven’t wrecked his knee, and he wouldn’t.
“I should be really happy about that, shouldn’t I? Part of me wants to bounce him on my knee and say ‘You do what I damn well tell you and get off next time’.
“Never have I seen me telling somebody to come off and he wouldn’t, so I’m delighted really.
“I wouldn’t have come off. Birch (Marc Bircham), Curt (Curtis Fleming) and Les (Ferdinand) wouldn’t have come off, but we’d have gone into an area and been a body – a nuisance – not in the middle of the defence right in the heart of where they’re going to get at us for Christ’s sake!
“Luckily, his team-mates helped him and they’re all celebrating the fact that he wanted to stay on with them.
“What can I say? Perchy, well done mate – but next time do what I tell you and come off.”
Meanwhile, Pawel Wszolek was brought on as a second-half substitute after insisting he was fit enough to be given a place on the bench.
The Pole was taken off against his wishes during the midweek defeat at Norwich after suffering a back injury.
“Pav says he’s fit because he wants to die for us and I wasn’t sure whether he really was,” Holloway admitted.
