Lambert refuses to blame Ipswich midfielder after defeat at QPR

Ipswich boss Paul Lambert refused to blame Jon Nolan for a costly mistake against QPR.

Their 3-0 defeat meant ​Town​ remain bottom of the Championship and have lost five of their last six away matches.

They conceded twice in four first-half minutes at Loftus Road, where the opening goal came after Nolan gave the ball away.

After keeper Dean Gerken failed to hold Nahki Wells’ shot, Pawel Wszolek pounced on the rebound to score.

Joel Lynch doubled QPR’s lead, and Wells added a third with 16 minutes remaining.

Lambert said: “For the first goal we’ve got the ball, are on top of the game, and Jon’s tried that pass – which is fine because I’m telling them to play.

“There’s no blame attached to him whatsoever. The great thing about it is that he kept on trying to take the ball. It takes a big player to do that when you’ve made a mistake.

“He’s playing really well and I’ll never criticise somebody for trying to get on the ball.

“I know what it’s like and there’s no player alive that doesn’t make a mistake.

“OK he made a mistake, but he goes again and I was delighted that he kept on going and never stopped trying to do things, which is great.”

Ipswich are seven points from safety but Lambert sees signs of progress and is optimistic they will climb away from trouble.

“A lot can change very quickly and there’s a long way to go,” he said.

“As long as you finish above that line, it doesn’t matter where you are.

“Whether we deserved to win this game or not I don’t know, but performance-wise we were dominating the ball for long spells.

“The difference was at both ends. I don’t think we did enough in the attacking third and didn’t defend as well as we should.”