Harefield Gazette

Warburton says goodbye with a victory

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MARK Warburton admitted it was “very pleasing” to end his threeyear QPR reign with a win after beating Swansea 1-0 at the Swansea.com Stadium.

A late goal from second-half substitute Andre Gray, his 10th of the season, secured the three points on Warburton’s farewell to leave them in 11th place.

Warburton said: “It’s very pleasing to end with a win, for the fans as well. It was important to finish on a high, keep a clean sheet and win the game.

“Swansea look to play and dominate possession and look for you to lose possession, then they use the overload and they can hurt you and we had to maintain discipline and make sure our two centre halves were tight and also be brave.”

It’s been an injury-hit season for the Rs, who have used six goalkeeper­s over the past nine months.

Saturday was no different as Warburton named only five players on his bench, including two goalkeeper­s .

He added: “It was difficult and challengin­g – we only had three or four subs – but credit to the players as we played well against a team who play possession.

“We played in warm conditions so they had to work hard and they did exactly that. You have to work hard and maintain your discipline and we did exactly that.”

Warburton has been at QPR since 2019 and an 11th-place finish follows final placings of 13th and ninth in the previous two years.

“It’s a pleasure and privilege to work with those players. I spoke to them individual­ly throughout the week, it really is a privilege. I can leave here comfortabl­e in the knowledge I’ve committed everything to the role,” he added.

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