Stephan welcomes Clarke-Salter’s return in QPR win

Julien Stephan was delighted to see Jake Clarke-Salter finally return to action as QPR beat Hull City 3-2 after twice being behind.

The former England Under-21 defender has been plagued by injury problems since joining Rangers in 2022 after leaving Chelsea.

He was given a starting place against the Tigers for his first outing since January, when he underwent hip surgery.

Clarke-Salter played an hour at Loftus Road, where Rumarn Burrell’s winner clinched the points for Stephan’s side.

“He struggled in the last months and it was very long for him,” said the R’s head coach.

“Just to see his face before the game and the end of the game – it’s the best gift for the staff, to see a player like this to enjoy the moment.

“It’s very important for us. Let’s see how we manage the next games, because he didn’t play for 10 months so we need to be clever with him.”

The Frenchman added: “I felt that it was the moment for him. He trained well in the last two or three weeks.

“We had a little break during the international break and he stayed to continue his rehab and train individually.

“I felt it was a good moment for him and he did well for 60 minutes. It was the plan for him to play for 60 minutes.”

Joe Gelhardt put the visitors ahead, Ilias Chair equalised before the break, and Enis Destan put Hull back in front early in the second half – leaving Rangers on course for a fourth consecutive home defeat.

But they turned the game around, with Jimmy Dunne scoring before Burrell struck to clinch Rangers’ first win in five matches.

Stephan said: “It was a very good performance and a good win. I enjoyed the performance and I enjoyed the reaction after the goals we conceded.

“They continued to stick to the plan and trust in themselves, and it was very important for me that they turned the game two times. Mentally they were able to stay strong.

“It was important to restart this season well and I wanted a good performance for the fans because we had lost the last three matches at home and it was very important to break this run.

“I think the fans were proud of what they saw on the pitch.”

Stephan explained that Harvey Vale was not involved because of a “little injury” picked up in training, while Kwame Poku and Isaac Hayden were left out of the squad because there are currently so many other options.

The attacking options include Karamoko Dembele, who has impressed in recent matches.

“It’s a new Dembele in these (past) two or three games,” Stephan declared.

Hull head coach Sergej Jakirovic felt his side panicked under pressure after going 2-1 up.

“We entered the game well and we mostly controlled everything that we expected from QPR,” said the Bosnian.

“We took the lead for 2-1 and something that bothered me is that we were immediately dropping down and defending deep. Why panic? Why don’t we continue to play?

“We had problems (dealing) with second balls because we didn’t read the game well.

“The momentum after 2-2 completely changed on the pitch. We did some unusual mistakes, our gaps in defence were very, very big, and after that they scored a third goal.

“Why panic? I don’t know. Why are we kicking the ball to the front when no-one is there? We need to be more calm on the ball, because we’ve shown already that we have quality.”