By Ben Kosky TEENAGER Josh Parker has praised team-mate Peter Ramage after the pair helped QPR claim their second successive win and clean sheet at Barnsley.Attacking midfielder Parker, 19, was handed his first senior start on Saturday – filling the righ

By Ben Kosky

TEENAGER Josh Parker has praised team-mate Peter Ramage after the pair helped QPR claim their second successive win and clean sheet at Barnsley.

Attacking midfielder Parker, 19, was handed his first senior start on Saturday - filling the right-back role that Ramage vacated recently by switching to central defence.

Although the youngster has featured at full-back for Rangers' reserves in recent weeks, he was quick to acknowledge the part played by Ramage in an extremely promising full debut at Oakwell.

"Peter Ramage is one of the people I'm closest to in the team and he helps me a lot," Parker told the Times. "When I first asked about playing right-back for the reserves, he gave me a lot of support.

"On the Friday they told me in training I'd be playing at Barnsley and straight away Ramage said 'I'll talk you through it and tell you when to go forward and when to stay back'.

"It was much, much easier with him there alongside me and I thought it went very well, although the pace was very, very quick compared to what I'm used to in reserve team football.

"There's always that urge to go forward and make a little run but they just told me to sit. The easiest way to defend is making the opposition go the other way, so that's what I tried to do."

Parker, who grew up in Slough and signed for Rangers' Centre of Excellence after impressing on a summer tour of Germany, was one of the youth team's rising stars alongside striker Antonio German.

He was loaned to Blue Square Premier side AFC Wimbledon to gain first-team experience in January, but soon asked to return to Loftus Road after becoming frustrated by a lack of opportunities.

That decision seems to have borne fruit, with QPR boss Neil Warnock handing Parker substitute appearances against Crystal Palace and Cardiff before pitching him into the starting line-up last weekend.

"Going to Wimbledon was one of the best - and worst - experiences," Parker reflected. "They asked me to go there, but for whatever reason I didn't play many games and I came back here when Neil Warnock came in.

"Since then things have been going well. He's the most positive manager since I've been here - he's always enthusiastic, always in a good mood and he's obviously seen something in me to bring me into the first team.

"Hopefully I'll be involved against Newcastle, then obviously I've got to get a new contract. As things stand I'm only here until July, but if they offer me something new we'll see what happens.