QPR ‘very vulnerable’ without Austin – Bond

Assistant boss Kevin Bond admitted QPR would be “very vulnerable” without Charlie Austin after the striker’s brace secured a 2-1 win at home to Huddersfield.

Austin took his tally for the season to 14, opening the scoring and then restoring Rangers’ lead after Nahki Wells’ equaliser.

The promotion chasers, now second in the table, have been hugely reliant on their top scorer and want to sign at least one forward during this month’s transfer window.

“That search is still continuing – that’s all I can say at this stage,” said Bond.

“Of course it’s a concern. We haven’t scored as many goals as we ought to for a side that’s where we are in the table.

“You would become very vulnerable if anything happened to Charlie. It’s there for all to see.

“We need people who can score goals and we need help in that department. We haven’t finished teams off in the way we would have liked.”

Huddersfield caused plenty of problems and missed excellent chances to score before Austin struck on 55 minutes, firing home after Clint Hill’s lofted ball forward had been flicked on by Niko Kranjcar and Andy Johnson.

Wells headed in Adam Hammill’s cross before Austin’s header from Benoit Assou-Ekotto’s corner gave Rangers the points.

Bond added: “We were better in the second half. We needed to up our game and we got two goals from Charlie, which has been pretty much par for the course.

“He’s the one who has scored the goals for us and that’s why we are where we are, as well as the fact that we’ve managed to keep the ball out of the net.

“I also thought Matt Phillips and Armand Traore made a difference when they came on as perhaps we lacked width.”

Follow West London Sport on Twitter
Find us on Facebook