Queens Park Rangers vs Blackburn Rovers preview - Warnock expects response - 7M sport

Queens Park Rangers vs Blackburn Rovers preview - Warnock expects response



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Posted Saturday, October 15, 2011 by PA

QPR manager Neil Warnock has been pleased by his team's response to the 6-0 drubbing at Fulham and expects Blackburn to feel the backlash tomorrow.

Having performed well since their promotion, QPR looked a shell of their normal self at Craven Cottage as Andrew Johnson's hat-trick saw Fulham romp to their first Barclays Premier League victory of the season.

Warnock was understandably disappointed by the result at their local rivals, but expects a response against Blackburn tomorrow.

"[The players' reaction] has been good," he said. "You are bound to be disappointed with a drubbing but it is one of those things.

"It just really shows that we need to keep the back lads together.

"We need all hands on deck really so it is important that the lads [get a result].

"Hopefully [Matthew] Connolly will be available again at the weekend, but that will be touch and go I would imagine.

"To lose him and others such as [Armand] Traore was a blow to us.

"I felt the QPR fans at Fulham last time out were absolutely fantastic. They know how quickly we have got where we have got now and I think it is great for a manager to get that support.

"It would have been easy to slaughter me and the players in a local derby.

"It was almost like they thought 'ok, we've lost but let's look forward to the next game', which I thought was a great attitude."

While QPR fans may have rallied behind Warnock, Saturday's counterpart Steve Kean does not enjoy quite the same luxury.

The Rovers boss has come under increasing criticism from a large section of fans, who want the former Fulham assistant manager to leave the club.

Warnock has sympathy for Kean's predicament but believes such pressure is part of being a manager in the spotlight.

"I think you've got so many complex situations as a manager, you don't really worry about anybody else," he said.

"You've got enough worries with yourselves in the Premier League as every week is tough and that is what you have to deal with.

"When one manager comes under pressure it is usually because of the media, the fans and everything else. It sells papers, doesn't it?

QPR, who go in search of their first victory at Loftus Road this season, will be without Danny Gabbidon with the defender still struggling to overcome a knee injury.

QPR will also be without fellow summer signing Kieron Dyer, who was taken off just seven minutes into the season opener against Bolton with a foot injury and complications will now rule him out for a substantial period.

Blackburn manager Steve Kean hopes the appointment of a trusted assistant in Paul Clement will ease some of the pressure and responsibility on his shoulders.

Former Chelsea coach Clement has been brought in after Rovers dispensed with the services of John Jensen a fortnight ago.

Kean, who has been under pressure all season after a string of poor results, knows the 39-year-old well from their time on the Fulham coaching staff a decade ago.

And the Blackburn boss, who still faces protests from fans who want him sacked, is looking to the new arrival to bring in some different ideas and give the training ground a lift.

"When you get any member of staff that is qualified to the level he is then you share responsibility, you delegate and you work with the players as much as you can," said Kean.

"It is great in to get someone with the experience he has.

"I have been an assistant manager myself for many years and you tend to take a lot of the responsibilities in terms of the organisation of the sessions and the meetings that have to take place.

"Often the manager has other commitments with the owners or the press and gets pulled away at times."

Clement's arrival on a rolling contract appears to strengthen Kean's position as manager despite a start to the season which has secured just four points and left the club next-bottom of the Barclays Premier League.

The club spent last week out in Pune, the home of Indian owners Venky's.

There were different comments coming from those at the top of the hierarchy of the poultry firm with one person describing Kean as a "brilliant" manager and another insisting it was time to start getting results.

The Rovers boss felt the trip was useful for many reasons and did not feel any additional pressure from some of the owners' comments.

"India was marvellous. I think we got a little bit of bad press that it might have been a bad time to go but I thought the timing was perfect in the international break," added Kean.

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