Mark Warburton satisfied with farewell win after QPR sink Swansea

Mark Warburton admitted it was “very pleasing” to end his three-year QPR reign with a win after beating Swansea 1-0 at the Swansea.com Stadium.

A late goal from second-half substitute Andre Gray, his 10th of the season, secured the three points on Warburton’s farewell to leave them in 11th place.

Warburton said: “It’s very pleasing to end with a win, for the fans as well. It was important to finish on a high, keep a clean sheet and win the game.

“Swansea look to play and dominate possession and look for you to lose possession, then they use the overload and they can hurt you and we had to maintain discipline and make sure our two centre halves were tight and also be brave and go in.”

It’s been an injury-hit season for the R’s, who have used six goalkeepers over the last nine months.

Today was no different as Warburton named only five players on his bench, including two goalkeepers.

He added: “Yesterday was difficult and challenging, we only had three or four subs, but credit to the players we played well against a team who play possession.

“We played in warm conditions so they had to work hard and they did exactly that. You have to work hard and maintain your discipline and we did exactly that.”

Warburton has been at QPR since 2019 and an 11th-place finish follows final placings of 13th and ninth in the previous two years.

“It’s a pleasure and privilege to work with those players. I spoke to them individually throughout the week, it really is a privilege. I can leave here comfortable in the knowledge I’ve committed everything to the role,” he added.

Meanwhile, Swansea boss Russell Martin wasn’t happy with the way his side started the first half and felt some players had their minds elsewhere.

He said: “It’s a really disappointing end to the season. A few too many players are in self-preservation mode, a few players who are unsure of their future here maybe. So it’s a bit frustrating.

“We score a goal that’s onside, it gets given offside. That maybe changes the game and it sparks into life but I was surprised by the feeling around the place in the first half.

“I was disappointed in the performance and that transmitted to the supporters as well.”

However, Martin felt his side’s second half was stronger and they were the better team.

He added: “Second half I really liked us until we conceded. We should have scored a couple of goals.

“I thought we were dominating until the goal. It’s so basic. If Lats (Joel Latibeaudiere) is still on the pitch then we don’t concede that goal.

“We wanted to finish the season on a high and we had chances to that.

“We’ve had to play players out of position because of injury all season and we had to do that again today, it’s been the story of our season really.”