McClaren looking for more steel
STEVE McClaren was in a buoyant mood after watching his QPR team extend their unbeaten run to three games in a week with their precious point at Birmingham.
It was a hard-earned draw against a side still seeking their first league win of the season after six outings.
With the exception of a brief early period, Birmingham struggled to assert their authority against a Rangers side that gained in confidence and very nearly snatched a late win when Matt Smith hit a post
McClaren said: “We need to build on this form as we are slowly and surely recovering from the opening four poor games.”
The former England manager has every reason to be optimistic about the future as his side dominated long spells in scrappy game.
He had to be pleased with the performance of his team which has quickly shown a big improvement since the embarrassment of their 7-1 capitulation at West Bromwich Albion a few weeks ago.
McClaren added: “After the West Brom game we had to address our defence. We have talent, but we need to keep clean sheets.
“I also think the squad is looking entirely different from three weeks ago. We have signed five quality players and, as a result, the squad looks stronger.
“We have worked a lot on organisation and discipline as I believe we are a good team with the ball. But we need to develop more steel, especially away from home as we have only four wins in 36 games on our travels over the past two years.
“So we have to credit the players and I am disappointed we didn’t get three points. They didn’t get the reward we deserved.
“Apart from the result, and not scoring, it was as good away performance as I’ve seen for a long time from the team. They didn’t have one really clear-cut chance and my goalkeeper Joe Lumley didn’t have a shot to save.
“I thought Toni Leistner and Joel Lynch were very good in defence, while Eberechi Eze produced some great work on and off the ball. We are in a better position than we were two weeks.
“The key to getting a result was to dominate Birmingham’s two strikers and not allow their wide players come inside. We did that and controlled much of the game.” Garry Monk, the Birmingham manager, said: “We badly need that first win as we know that in previous games we have done more than enough to have got the points.
“Against Rangers it was a scrappy game and there was no real opportunity to get our momentum going. It probably suited the away team.
“We didn’t perform to levels that we have done in previous games. But we didn’t really get the opportunity as there were so many free-kicks and stopstarts.
“It wasn’t from lack of effort and looking at the six games it will not deter us from what we are doing.
“This is why we are not feeling sorry for ourselves. We are sorry and frustrated for our fans.”