Stephan praises QPR players after dramatic draw
Julien Stephan praised his QPR side for their battling qualities after the dramatic 1-1 draw at West Ham.
Pierce Charles secured the point with a stunning double save in stoppage time, keeping out Jarrod Bowen’s penalty and superbly pushing Arne Engels’ follow-up onto the woodwork.
Rangers had to cling on at the end. With all their permitted substitutions having been made, Tariq Lamptey picked up another injury, while fellow defenders Kealey Adamson and Jake Clarke-Salter struggled badly with cramp.
Stephan said: “Tariq Lamptey had an ankle injury, so we had 11 players on the pitch but in fact we had only eight or nine players in good shape.
“Kealey Adamson finished with some cramps. It was very difficult for him to finish. Jake Clarke-Salter as well. What personality.
“In France, we say “chapeau” (‘I take my hat off to you’). So I want to say “chapeau” to the players for this point.
“I want to thank the fans as well for the support. It was outstanding at the end of the game to feel this support.
“Keep pushing, keep going and be ready now for the next one on Wednesday.”
After Nicolas Madsen’s first-half penalty had put Rangers ahead, they kept the Hammers at bay until Bowen equalised straight after Lamptey had come on for Boy Kemper.
The outstanding Kemper, back from injury and playing in the absence of the suspended Dennis Cirkin, emphatically contained Bowen.
But Lamptey immediately allowed the England international to come in from the right flank onto his left foot – something Kemper had resolutely stopped him doing – and Bowen levelled.
Head coach Stephan said he felt he had to take Kemper off in order to preserve him for upcoming matches against Derby and Birmingham.
Stephan explained: “When I take Boy Kemper off in the second half, it’s not because I’m not happy with his performance, it’s just because if I want to have him available on Wednesday and perhaps on Saturday I needed to do this at this moment.
“So there are a lot of things we have to manage, but how the players found a way in the last 20 minutes just to survive was just unbelievable in terms of personality and character.”
Young keeper Charles, on loan from Manchester City, enhanced his growing reputation with his late heroics.
“We need a top goalkeeper and we have a top goalkeeper, not only with the ball but without the ball,” Stephan declared.
“A top goalkeeper is able to help you to win the point like this or to win three points.
“I don’t see a lot of limits to him in the future. I think he has a maturity for his age – unbelievable.
“He’s very humble, hard worker, top personality, top mentality, very good with the ball, very brave. We are very lucky to have him with us this season.
“But, look, he decided to come because he felt that it was the right place for him to develop himself as a player.”
BiroBiro 
09/10/2026 @ 11:53 pm
Let’s not brag too much because had Charles not saved the penalty, we would have lost the game! How is it that 2 players have cramp, it’s not like they’ve played lots of games in the break & again, you have to question our training facility if players are picking up injuries or can’t even mange 90 minutes. We got lucky to get the penalty awarded although we did play well in the first half, but as normal, we can’t keep it going & eventuality succumb to an equalizer. I’ll take a point, but it ended up being a lucky point. As a reality check,15th is just 4 points behind us, so nothing really changes because we were impressive to come back from 2 down against Preston with 10 men & although lots will say West Ham are favs to go back up, they weren’t good enough to stay up so the gap isn’t as big as people may think. Our biggest issue is to stop buying injury prone players. Lamptey, just came back & got injury in his comeback game for god sake, does no one at the club see this as ridiculous to take chances on these types of players now?