Stephan praises ‘clever’ QPR after draw at Stoke

Julien Stephan felt his QPR players managed the game with maturity in their 0-0 draw at Stoke.

The home fans became more and more frustrated during a turgid match in which Rangers defended well but created little in attack.

And head coach Stephan felt it was a useful point to pick up.

“I think so. Why? Because of the resilience of the players, strong defensive organisation, strong mindset,” he said.

“We needed to be clever, away from home, to manage the game, and I think the players showed great maturity to manage the game.

“Defensively it was good, but offensively and how we used the ball, it was not good.

“But defensively, mindset, the mentality and how we protected our box was very good.”

The result left Rangers 11th in the Championship table, four points away from the play-off places.

Stephan’s side are away to Oxford United on Tuesday.