Queens Park Rangers manager Mark Warburton rues missed chances as his side put in a spirited effort as they crashed out of the FA Cup with a 2-0 extra-time defeat to Fulham.
Goals from substitutes Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Neeskens Kebano sealed the progress of Scott Parker's men at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium while the R's are now winless in 10 games.
Forwards Macauley Bonne and Lyndon Dykes had glorious chances as they played out a goalless draw to force extra-time at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.
“I’ve got to be careful how I say that as we’ve lost a game of football 2-0, but the question before the game to the boys was we’re playing a strong Premier League team, where are we in comparison,” Warburton said.
“I thought we went toe-to-toe, it was a very entertaining 0-0 draw for the neutral, both teams were creating chances but again it was the same story for me that we’ve created four or five great chances and we have to take them, simple as that.”
The boss made just one change for the tie with Bonne coming in to replace Niko Hamalainen in the starting line-up – meaning Geoff Cameron, Ilias Chair, Tom Carroll and Dom Ball all played despite a hectic fixture list which sees them go to Luton Town on Tuesday evening.
“You want to win the game, it’s the FA Cup, it’s a magnificient tournament you want to win and go as far as you possibly can but we also had the re-arranged game with Luton Town on Tuesday so you have to think about the players.
“They’ve had a really demanding schedule already in terms of a large amount of games in a short period of time, Geoff, Brighty, Ilias, Tom Carroll have played a lot of minutes, Dom Ball cramped up but got through the last 30 minutes of the game.
“We’ve got to look after them for another game on Tuesday night.”
The R’s are winless in 10 games and the boss knows every game is now vital but knows they must be more clinical to win games of football.
“They’re all important, but you like to go in with a winning mentality, the FA Cup is a fantastic tournament so we would never disrespect it and we wanted to win today (Saturday). There we were 0-0 after 90 minutes and the next goal was going to be important.
“We played against a very good team, we had some very good chances and haven’t got the rewards again and that’s so important for us going forward to get the goals that our football deserves.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here