Warburton frustrated after QPR defeat

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Mark Warburton said his QPR side let themselves down after allowing Blackburn to score three second-half goals in the 3-1 defeat at Ewood Park.

The Rangers boss admitted they were fortunate not to be at least 2-0 down at the break after Rovers dominated the first half, with keeper Seny Dieng once again impressing with two top-class saves.


But after bringing on Osman Kakay and Chris Willock for Dominic Ball and Albert Adomah and pushing Todd Kane into a more advanced position, the visitors were much improved after the restart.

With the score at 1-1 deep into the second half, after Ben Brererton’s opener and a Lyndon Dykes’ penalty, Warburton felt his team could have gone on and won the game before Adam Armstrong scored in the 74th and 95th minutes.

“We were lucky to come in at half-time at 0-0,” said Warburton.

“We were thankful to a couple of very good saves from Seny.

“Their first goal saw the ball bounce around from the corner, that can happen, but after we scored I thought we were on the front foot and I really fancied us to win the game.

“But this is the Championship and they scored a second goal from us being in great position on the edge of their box and we lost a four-v-two and you can’t do that. You have to win your duels.

“We let ourselves down. I thought we could take the game by the scruff of the neck, but we didn’t do it.”

But Warburton was full of praise for Dieng and Willock, who was excellent after replacing the under-par Adomah.

“He did really well, Seny. He went out on loan to Doncaster and had the best stats out of 92 league clubs,” Warburton said.

“He has come back and been outstanding.

“For young players getting the right loans is so important. People say to throw in the young kids but it is about doing it at the right time.

“Chrissy Willock came on and did well and we looked dangerous in the second half as a team.

“You can talk about formations all you like but you have to win your duels.

“In the first half they ran past us. I thought in the second half we dealt with it better and looked the most likely team. But we have to deal with certain things better.”