LUMLEY ANSWERS CRITICS IN STYLE
Warbs backs his under-fire keeper
MANAGER Mark Warburton savoured QPR’s win over Preston and praised young goalkeeper Joe Lumley for his response to “outrageous” criticism.
Ebere Eze scored both goals as Rangers secured a first victory in eight matches as Lumley kept a clean sheet.
The keeper has been guilty of some costly mistakes this term and admitted in the week that he had been affected by abuse on social media.
But he was excellent in a much-needed win for the R’s and produced a fine secondhalf save by diving to his left to keep out a powerful strike from Billy Bodin.
“He’s 24 and, in goalkeeping terms, that’s very young,” said Warburton. “These guys take a lot of abuse on social media, which is outrageous. You might say ‘don’t read it’, but at 24 they’re going to read it.
“Our genuine fans, if they knew the abuse some of our players get, would be mortified, they really would.
“He’s come through a couple of mistakes and showed his quality. He was outstanding for us today. He’s learned from his mistakes, he has stepped up. The crowd supported him and I’m delighted.
“The save he made late in the game, low to his left, was world-class.”
Eze’s first came when Geoff Cameron opened up the Preston defence with a superb ball forward. Eze netted at the second attempt after his first effort was saved by keeper Declan Rudd. He had plenty left to do after Rudd’s stop, but the England U21 international showed great composure to steer the ball past Preston’s Ben Pearson.
Hoops continued to have the upper hand and could have extended their lead before the interval. Marc Pugh’s shot was saved by Rudd before Jordan Hugill fired over after being set up by Nahki Wells’ knockdown. Rudd was called into action again soon after the break, this time to save another shot from Eze.
Preston boss Alex Neil sent on three attacking players – Billy Bodin, David Nugent and Josh Harrop – early in the second half.
However, his team fell further behind after 67 minutes when Eze tucked away a spotkick after Pugh had been tripped by Rudd.
Rangers threatened late in the game as well, with Hugill shooting over and Grant Hall’s cross just evading Cameron.
Neil admitted his side are badly missing sidelined Paul Gallagher and Daniel Johnson.
He said: “They’re very creative players for us and they’re proven to make a make a difference at this level. When those players are missing it’s always going to be difficult.
“We have got guys who are capable of getting goals and being creative but maybe haven’t shown that so far.
“We can’t fault the players for a lack of effort. They always give everything they’ve got. It’s natural for the boys to get a little bit down. We just need to shake that off because you’re going to go through these spells. There will be sticky spells for us. We need to come out the other side.”