Lyndon Dykes on Mick Beale’s QPR exit – and why R’s squad determined to prove doubters wrong

Lyndon Dykes insists the QPR squad are still the same group of players who were top of the Championship earlier in the season – with or without Michael Beale.

Beale quit QPR over the winter break to join his former side Glasgow Rangers, where he had been assistant to Steven Gerrard and helped the club lift their 55th Scottish Premiership title, following Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s sacking.

The 42-year-old, who had also had stints at Sao Paulo as an assistant and with Liverpool as a youth team coach, turned down an approach from Premier League side Wolves earlier in the season.

Beale cited that “loyalty and integrity” were important aspects to him and that he could not be the “first person to run away from the ship” when referring to his project at QPR.

Just over a month later, Beale left Loftus Road for Ibrox, with QPR without a win in five in the Championship and sitting just inside the play-off places on goal difference.

“We all got on with the manager – he was great,” Dykes, who had played in every game in the Championship under Beale, told the South London Press.

“He came in and knew what he wanted to do straight away – he was very firm, and his training sessions were very good.

“We were all disappointed to see him leave. It’s football, and it’s so crazy sometimes – it moves so quickly.

“An opportunity came up for him, and he decided to go for that. We all wished him all the best.

“I’m sure he will do great up there. He’s very highly spoken of in the football scene.

“Now we have to move forward in that and focus on ourselves. I’m sure he will be looking from afar and always keeping an eye on us and hoping we’re doing well.

“It’s been a bit of a crazy time. We all have to adjust, but that’s football – you can pick up your bags one day and be on the other side of the country.

“Now we have got a mentality where we want to prove everyone wrong and prove ourselves right. We are capable of doing it, we just have to have switched on heads and make sure we give it all.”

QPR’s U21 boss Paul Hall has been promoted on a temporary basis to look after the first team as sporting director Les Ferdinand searches for Beale’s replacement.

“He just wants us to make sure that we’re giving him our all,” said Scotland international Dykes.

“He has come in with a lot of experience. He has taken training and a friendly game.

“We can adjust to it [Beale leaving]. We’re all the same talented players and the same team that were first [in the table] so many months ago.”

Dykes joined the west Londoners in the summer of 2020 after they paid Scottish Premiership side Livingston a fee in the region of £2million to secure the forward’s signature on a four-year deal.

Before the season broke for the World Cup break, Dykes made his 100th appearance for the club in all competitions in a 2-1 defeat to Huddersfield Town.

Reflecting on the milestone, Dykes, who scored QPR’s only goal of the game against the Terriers, said: “It meant a lot. Playing 100 games for any club should mean a lot to a player.

“I have really enjoyed my time at QPR – I’m really settled. All in all, it’s been great for me to come down here.

“I have had a great two-and-a-half seasons, so hopefully, it can continue and hopefully I can reach 200 games for QPR if I get that opportunity.

“The club is always progressing. Les Ferdinand is always doing a good job behind the scenes.

“Moving over to where the new training ground is being built is a massive step for the club moving forward.

“The club looks like it’s stepping into a really good position. I can only see the club progressing and hopefully back in the Premier League.”

The forward scored six goals in 21 Championship outings before the season stopped for the start of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

QPR restart their season against table-toppers Burnley this weekend, with the Hoops looking to end a run of five games without a win in the league.

“We weren’t happy with the results that we were getting before the start of that break, but that’s the Championship,” added the 27-year-old. “Even if our performances weren’t worthy of losing, we still lost games, and we didn’t want to do that.

“This break came at a good time for us to refocus and regroup and to get back to what we are. We are still the same players who everybody was raving about so many weeks ago.

“It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster of a season for myself. I have done well, but I know I could have been on a few more goals.

“I look at where the highest goalscorer in the league is, and I should be a little bit closer with the chances that I have had.”

QPR have been in the Championship since their relegation from the Premier League in 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZUZinx1Ow8

“Everything,” said Dykes when asked what it would mean to him to end QPR’s wait for top-flight football.

“It’s something that every footballer who comes to the Championship wants to do.

“We all want to play in the Premier League, and the Championship is the best route to get there. If we get the club there, too, it’s even better.

“It’s a long season, but we have to keep being focused and getting points on the board.”

DYKES MAIN PHOTO: ROB AVIS

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