Stephan keen to ‘rebuild’ Burrell after QPR striker’s return

Julien Stephan welcomed Rumarn Burrell’s return for QPR and pledged to “rebuild” the striker in preparation for next season.

Burrell came on as a second-half substitute during a goalless draw with Bristol City at Loftus Road.

He made a major impact after arriving from Burton last summer, scoring 10 goals before a hamstring injury sidelined him for three months.

Head coach Stephan said: “He trained with us the last two weeks and I think it was a good moment to reconnect Rumarn with Loftus and with the fans today. It’s important for him to rebuild his confidence and his physicality.

“Of course when you stay out three months you need more time. But it was a first step for him and we will continue the process to give him the minutes that he needs until the rest of the season.

“The most important thing now is to rebuild him and to prepare him for next season.”

The stalemate between two mid-table sides had a distinctly end-of-season feel to it.

But Stephan insisted there was no lack of effort shown by Rangers’ players.

“The season is not finished and I think, when you see the effort of the players today, they showed that it’s not finished for us in their mindset,” said the Frenchman.

“The players tried everything on the pitch, but sometimes you have less efficiency. But I don’t think the players could have this kind of effort on the pitch and keep the clean sheet if they felt the season was finished.

“I think the two teams were very well organised and it was a tight game. But it was not a bad game – it was just a tight game between two teams very close in terms of level.

“The positive side for us is to keep a clean sheet and five games unbeaten now – a very good run.

“We tried to find a solution but, to be fair, they defended very well, and when we had a couple of situations offensively, we missed them because the last pass was not good enough.”