Warburton plays down Dykes injury fears after QPR win

QPR boss Mark Warburton does not believe an injury Lyndon Dykes picked up against Luton will threaten the Scotland striker’s chance of playing in the European Championships.

Rangers ended a promising campaign with a 3-1 win at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, where Stefan Johansen and Albert Adomah scored after Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s equaliser had cancelled out Charlie Austin’s opener.

Dykes picking up a knee injury initially seemed like worrying news for Scotland manager Steve Clarke.

Dykes, who scored six times in the final eight matches of the season, was hurt by a crude challenge by Glen Rea just before the interval and limped through the final seconds of the first half but did not appear for the second.

But Warburton revealed that Clarke can breathe easily as the problem does not appear to be serious.

Warburton said: “For Lyndon to go down – he never goes down and he’s as hard as a piece of teak.

“But I don’t think the doctor was too concerned and Lyndon was desperate to come back onto the pitch because he thought he was OK.

“The doctor said he wanted to be cautious, and we’ll always listen to the medical staff.  So that was more precautionary, I hope.

“He looks OK – and the way he’s attacking the food in the dressing room, he looks fantastic.

“He knows he’s got a big summer ahead of him, and we need to look after our players.”

Rangers’ win meant they finished ninth in the Championship and Warburton feels they have made substantial progress during his two years at the helm.

He said: “It was a really pleasing end to the season to get three more points and take us to 68, which is 10 more than last year.  I’m delighted for the players.

“It’s not a huge success, because we haven’t won anything, but we’re only two points off of seventh and the players deserve so much credit for the way they’ve worked hard and shown character.”