Victory showed QPR have improved, says Stephan
QPR boss Julien Stephan felt his side’s 2-1 win at home to Lincoln showed they have grown in stature this season.
Glen Kamara’s late goal secured victory for Rangers and lifted them back into the Championship play-off places.
They have endured frustrating matches at Loftus Road this term, drawing 0-0 with Bolton – when they did everything but score – and 2-2 against Preston after having left-back Dennis Cirkin sent off.
But this time they were able to secure maximum points, with Kamara firing home after being cleverly set up by the fit-again Ilias Chair.
“The big improvement is if I compare it with Bolton or Preston, when we didn’t win,” said Stephan.
“They continued to believe and continued to stick to the plan, and they scored a beautiful second goal.
“They deserve big credit to have been able to stay calm and I think it’s a good sign of maturity. I think we’ve grown in the last weeks.
“We are better now. It doesn’t mean it was perfect – we can develop some things, especially in the last third to be more clinical and have some better decisions sometimes – but I enjoyed it a lot.
“The players want to progress, they want to learn, and this was a good win for us.”
Chair’s recent return has been a major boost for Rangers, who were without the playmaker for much of last season.
He suffered another injury setback in the early weeks of this campaign, but made an impact after coming on as a second-half substitute just as the hosts seemed to be running out of ideas.
“We know Illy is important for us. Unfortunately, last season and the beginning of this season, we didn’t have the opportunity to use him a lot,” said Stephan.
“When he’s on the pitch, he’s able to find some spaces, find some passes, and his decision to play it to Glen is a top decision.”
