Bennie’s impressive QPR display ‘not a surprise’

Julien Stephan insisted Daniel Bennie’s impressive performance for QPR against Derby did not come as a surprise.

The Australian, who recently turned 20, produced his best display for Rangers so far.

Head coach Stephan said: “He did very well. A new position, a new role in fact, because we changed something in possession today.

“We wanted to play with three midfielders inside and with some players quite close to Rich (Kone) Bennie and Smythy (Paul Smyth) able to run behind their defensive line, and he did very well.

“I think all the offensive players, they were very well connected; they did some good moves.

“He did well. It’s not a surprise. I see him every day on the pitch during the (training) sessions. I think he succeeded today to show what he is able to do during the sessions.”

But there was disappointment for Rangers again, with Derby coming from behind twice before scoring a late winner.

After the 3-2 defeat, Stephan was at a loss to explain how his team lost the game, having been on top for large spells.

“I don’t know (how we lost). A lot of frustration at the end of the game for us,” said Stephan.

“There was pride at the way that we played, how we started the game. It was exactly what we needed to do – impose ourselves on the pitch with a lot of intensity, good movement, attack and be very aggressive in the opponents’ half.

“We played unbelievable in the first hour. It was probably the best hour of the season for us. But we created a lot of chances and after one hour we had kept the opponent alive, and when that’s the case you never know what can happen.

“And then when you play the last 10 or 15 minutes with only 10 players on the pitch, it’s more difficult.

“But for the future we need to manage these type of games better and kill them off when we play this well. It’s difficult to play better football than we did today.”