EZE DOES IT
...and Warbs hails ‘baby’ keeper
QPR
PRESTON
MARK WARBURTON praised Joe Lumley’s mental strength after the QPR goalkeeper silenced his snipers.
Lumley had come under fire from a section of Hoops fans in recent weeks following several gaffes.
But the shot-stopper turned in an assured performance as Rangers secured a first shut-out in 24 games and returned to winning ways.
“Joe’s had some criticism, but he was outstanding, and one save he made was world class,” said boss Warburton.
“I’m delighted for him. Don’t forget he’s 24, so in goalkeeper years he’s only a baby. He’s learnt from his mistakes and stepped up.
“These guys, okay they’re pro footballers, but they take a lot of abuse on social media which I think is outrageous.
“I think our genuine fans, if they knew some of the abuse players get, they’d be mortified, they really would.
“You say ‘don’t read it’, but they’re 24. They’re going to read it.
“He’s come through a couple of mistakes and he showed his quality.”
Rangers secured victory over a toothless Preston thanks to two goals in each half from Ebere Eze.
The youngster broke the deadlock on 17 minutes when he raced onto Geoff Cameron’s flighted ball and scored with his second attempt after his initial shot had been saved by Declan Rudd.
Preston improved after the break, but it was 2-0 to the hosts on 67 minutes, Eze notching from the spot to grab his second of the game and ninth of the season after Rudd had chopped down Marc Pugh.
It was a fourth straight defeat for promotion hopefuls Preston and saw them fall out of the top six, with manager Alex Neil critical of the penalty decision.
“It’s a dubious one,” said the Scot. “The referee told the players he wasn’t quite sure, so he went and spoke to his linesman who said he didn’t see it. I don’t know how you can give a penalty if you’re not sure.
“I’ve looked at his view and there must have been six bodies in front of him. Your job is not to decide if it ‘looks’ like a penalty. Is it a penalty or not? I rarely criticise refs but that took the wind out of our sails.
“We were also without five players that have started pretty much every game this season. It has a knock-on effect.”