Warburton’s joy to have Charlie on board at QPR
FORMER Nottingham Forest manager Mark Warburton hailed the impact of QPR striker Charlie Austin after the on-loan West Bromwich Albion forward marked his second debut with the first goal in Tuesday night’s 2-0 away win against Luton Town.
The 31-year-old was on the scoresheet some six years after his last strike for the R’s back in December 2015, nodding home a corner from close range.
It put QPR on their way to a first League win for 10 games, with Macauley Bonne adding the second late on.
“Whenever you bring in an experienced pro like Charlie it always lifts the squad,” said QPR boss Warburton.
“The way he communicated to Lyndon (Dykes), the early partnership developed immediately and he just talked his way through the game.
“He’ll help all the players undoubtedly, but it’s a tough league and we’ve got to get him fit.
“His quality shone tonight early on and to get 60 minutes out of him is really pleasing.
“It’s three points, it’s a tough place to come Luton, they’re very good at home.
“They score goals freely, they’ve put good teams to the sword here, so we knew what we would face but I thought we were very good in the first half.
“We controlled it, got the goal, but in truth should have had two or three more.
“Second half, they’re going to commit bodies forward, but we dropped off a little bit too deep and were on the back foot but were always going to break on the transition late in the game.
“I’m really pleased for the team, a tough place to come and a good three points.”
Meanwhile, Millwall manager Gary Rowett refused to take the credit after Matt Smith came off the bench to score a precious equaliser and earn the Lions a 1-1 draw at high-flying Bournemouth on Tuesday night.
Smith netted with his first touch 11 minutes from time to cancel out Dominic Solanke’s first-half goal and the Lions now turn their attention to Saturday’s trip to face Forest at the City Ground.
Rowett said: “I did not think the substitution would work within one touch so I am not going to claim that as a genius decision.
“But Smudge looked a handful when he came on.
“We had far better chances and more than twice the number of shots of Bournemouth.
“We had a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, had one shot cleared off the line, hit the post and had numerous other chances.
“To concede so late in the first half after playing so well was a real slap in the face.
“They are a good side, a Premier League team playing in the Championship, but our shape was tremendous.
“That is Norwich away, a point, and Bournemouth away, a point. You have to look at those as good points.”