First-half change was needed, says Holloway

Ian Holloway said he felt he had to make a change during the first half of QPR’s 1-1 draw at Bolton.

The Rangers boss did not wait until the interval to make a substitution after his team had gone behind against the run of play.

With seven minutes of the first half left, Holloway took off midfielder Ryan Manning and sent on striker Conor Washington.

“I felt sorry for Ryan but I needed to go more attack-minded once we’d gone one down,” Holloway said.

Idrissa Sylla’s 79th-minute equaliser earned a deserved point for the R’s, who are without a win in seven matches and are yet to win away this season.

Holloway, who insisted he “doesn’t care” about a recent newspaper story claiming he was close to being sacked, praised his players for their fighting spirit.

“These lads will never give in. They’ll always dig in for each other and that showed again,” he said.