QPR manager Mark Warburton highlights preparation issue for Watford match

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

Mark Warburton reckons QPR’s preparations for their next Championship fixture – at home to Watford – has not been aided by the international break.

Lyndon Dykes, Macauley Bonne, Niko Hamalainen, Osman Kakay and Conor Masterson are all away with their respective countries.

Rangers have only lost once on home turf this season but the Hornets are second in the table and already eight points ahead of them.

“The problem we have is players going away,” said the R’s boss. “You lose these players for two weeks and you just pray they come back in good shape.”

QPR lost 3-1 at Blackburn last weekend. Dykes had scored from the spot to level the match – Rob Dickie was fouled – but the league’s top scorer Adam Armstrong netted twice in the final 17 minutes.

“We could have been two down easily [in the first half]- Seny [Dieng] pulled off a couple of world-class saves,” said Warburton. “The positive at half-time was that we rode our luck and it was 0-0.

“When they broke away to score their second goal it came from us having great possession in a really good area – bodies forward and bodies behind the ball. We shouldn’t concede as a team there, we lost a duel and let ourselves down four versus two.

“We lost too many small duels which have massive consequences to it.”

Charlie Kelman netted twice as QPR’s U23s lost 4-2 to Hull. It was the striker’s first goals for the club since his move from Southend United.

PHOTO: SEAN GOSLING