Amos and Kakay praised after QPR’s derby defeat
Mark Warburton praised Luke Amos and Osman Kakay after QPR suffered a third consecutive defeat.
Rangers were beaten 2-1 by Fulham in the west London derby at Loftus Road, where Amos missed a great chance to put them ahead prior to Cyrus Christie thumping home the visitors’ winner.
Manager Warburton admitted the miss was costly but insisted he was pleased with the on-loan Tottenham midfielder’s performance.
Amos blazed over after being teed up by Bright Osayi-Samuel’s cut-back from the left.
“It was so frustrating. You think of that chance with Luke Amos, but he had an outstanding game,” said Warburton.
“We worked it perfectly and cut it back. Just stroke the ball home.
“But he was in that position, he worked so hard to get there, and that’s the type of football we all want to see.”
‘Huge contribution’
There was praise too for defender Kakay, who made his first league start since August 2018.
“I thought he was excellent tonight,” Warburton said.
“There were a number of big performances but Ossie, to come in like that, play 90 minutes against a very good team, win his headers and to be tight on one-versus-ones – he made a huge contribution.
“He did the basics really well – his positioning and his simple passes. I’m delighted for him.
“That was a big ask of any player at any level and he showed huge desire and resilience.”
QPR undone after dream start
Rangers made the perfect start, with Jordan Hugill heading them ahead in the opening minute.
Long-range shots from Harry Arter and Christie turned the tide against Rangers, who went close to equalising when Ryan Manning headed Ebere Eze’s late corner against the bar.
“We’ve given away three points from a very, very strong display,” Warburton said.
“We dominated long periods against a very good Fulham team.
“We got the early goal, showed intensity, desire and quality.
“Then we had to maintain it in the second half and we did that, but we didn’t get our rewards from that.
“There was one team in it, especially in the second half. We’ve hit the bar, gone close on x number of occasions.
“We’ve let in two soft goals shot from distance which we should have dealt with more comfortably.”
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