QPR boss Michael Beale says ‘pretty much everything went wrong’ in Blues loss

QPR boss Michael Beale said “pretty much everything went wrong” after seeing his side denied a return to the top of the Sky Bet Championship following a 2-0 defeat at Birmingham.

First-half goals from Auston Trusty and Emmanuel Longelo put the hosts in the driving seat before Birmingham goalkeeper John Ruddy made sure there was no late recovery from Rangers when he saved Lyndon Dykes’ 79th-minute penalty.

To make matters worse for the visitors, they also suffered a number of injury blows as they remained two points behind Burnley in the standings.

Beale said: “I don’t want it to be one of those nights – I want it to be THE night because I think everything that could have gone wrong, did.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Birmingham because they’re a good team with a real spirit.

“You could see it because I thought they fought for every first and second ball and they ran hard and made the game ugly for us.

“They got the first goal and it was going to be an uphill battle, but I thought we responded quite well from that.

“We were a bit unfortunate with an effort from Tyler Roberts that hit the bar.

“But for us, pretty much everything went wrong.

“We lost two players before half-time – Jake Clarke-Salter with a problem with his left knee and Tyler Roberts to a calf problem that’s been scanned twice. Then Stefan Johansen hobbled his way to half-time after hurting his ankle, so we didn’t use all three subs in the first half.”

A freakish goal gave Birmingham the lead after four minutes. On-loan Arsenal defender Trusty’s hopeful overhead flick looped over helpless goalkeeper Seny Dieng after Krystian Bielik had returned Mejbri’s corner into the danger area.

QPR lost Clarke-Salter and Roberts to injury in the space of six minutes before they conceded again in the 29th minute.

Left wing-back Longelo teased Ethan Laird before cutting inside and rolling a low shot inside the far bottom corner.

With QPR searching for a way back into the game, Ruddy kept Birmingham in control when he denied Dykes from the spot after Longelo was judged to have raised his foot dangerously on Laird as they battled for a cross.

Birmingham head coach John Eustace saluted his goalkeeper after the match, saying: “To save that penalty was unbelievable.

“John has been superb since he has come in, he really led by example.

“I want people at this football club with a point to prove and who want to fight and scrap for each other.

“It’s important players here want to play for Birmingham City and as soon as I spoke to John in the summer, he said he’s got a point to prove because he wanted to play and Birmingham is a fantastic club.

“He’s been promoted out of this league, his experience has been brilliant.”

Eustace also admitted he took Hannibal Mejbri off to spare him a possible red card.

On-loan Manchester United midfielder Mejbri earned an early booking for clattering Laird, another Red Devils loanee, and was replaced after 54 minutes.

“Hannibal did give me slight heart problems when he made that tackle,” said Eustace. “That’s why I brought him off.”