Stephan admits QPR’s win was marred by Mbengue injury

Julien Stephan admitted QPR’s thumping victory against Derby was marred by Amadou Mbengue being stretchered off late on with what looked like a serious knee injury.

Rangers won 4-1 at Loftus Road, where there were goals for Alfie Lloyd, Nicolas Madsen, Harvey Vale and Paul Smyth.

But the injury suffered by defender Mbengue left head coach Stephan feeling deflated.

“I have a mix of emotions, because I’m very happy of course with the win but very sad with Amadou’s situation and his injury,” said Stephan.

“We don’t know exactly what the situation is with his knee, but it’s never good to see a player like this come off with a lot of pain. It’s never a good sign.

“Now we have to fight for Amadou (against Birmingham) on Saturday. This is the message that I wanted to deliver to the players.

“We have to keep our energy very positive and our mindset very positive, and use our sadness for Amadou on Saturday and fight for him.

“Normally, when you play a game like this and you score four, you are very happy and very positive – and I have to be very positive about the way we played.

“Unfortunately we had the Amadou situation and that’s why it’s a mix of feelings for us.”

With Dennis Cirkin suspended for the Birmingham game and Tariq Lamptey unavailable, Stephan’s options at full-back will be limited.

Rangers have been plagued by injuries in the past couple of seasons and they are a problem again, with the likes of Ilias Chair and Rumarn Burrell also among the players sidelined.

But Stephan insisted: “We have to make the distinction between muscle injuries and injuries like this (Mbengue’s). I want to say it’s unlucky.

“How can you explain an injury like this? And in fact in terms of muscle injuries, we haven’t had a lot of muscle injuries since the start of the season.”