Mark Warburton eager to add to QPR’s attacking options

Posted Wednesday, January 26, 2022 by PA

QPR manager Mark Warburton felt the goalless draw at home to Swansea showed just why he wants to bring in an attacking player before the transfer deadline.

Rangers had won their previous four matches and another victory would have taken them up to third in the Championship table.

But they badly missed the creativity of Ilias Chair, who is at the Africa Cup of Nations with Morocco, and instead remain fourth, four points behind second-placed Blackburn with a game in hand.

Warburton said: “I just felt we lacked a bit of quality in the final third. We know we were not at our best.

“You’re obviously going to miss a player who plays nine times out of 10. Ilias is normally in the team and with his goals and assists he’s a very talented boy.

“He’s been away but, if you look at our run for the last eight or nine games, we’re not doing bad.

“I’m not ignoring it – we know we need attacking options. When you make a substitution you want to change it to change the dynamic and tempo of a game.

“We are targeting players. We know what we want and who we want to bring in.

“Who we want and getting it done are two entirely different things. I hope very much in the next two or three days that we see some movement.”

Rangers midfielder Luke Amos hit a post and Lyndon Dykes missed a great chance when he shot straight at goalkeeper Ben Hamer.

“The boys have found a way to win games and tonight we couldn’t quite find a way to win it,” Warburton said.

“But look at the results. We’ve done OK and are in a decent position and come May that could be a very good point indeed.”

Swansea boss Russell Martin was full of praise for his battling players.

“I thought we were great. I’m really proud of the team,” Martin said.

“I asked them to come here and show courage and be the team that we want to be and they’ve done that.

“We showed some serious character. There was a really good mentality and a real intensity to the game.

“With a bit more quality in the final third I think we could maybe have come away with three points, but it’s back-to-back clean sheets and we got the least we deserved tonight.

“Some of the football was really good on a tight pitch against a very good team who are really aggressive. The bravery they showed to play the way they did was incredible.

“We’ve shown that on our day we’re capable of producing performances that can compete against anyone.

“I really feel that we’re growing all the time and the players fully believe in what we’re asking them to do.”