Jim - Just Rewards For 'Second Best' Defending

Jim Magilton has criticised the performance of his side insisting that they must make amends on Tuesday night against Crystal Palace.

Rangers went a goal infront against Leicester City courtesy of Adel Taarabt, but a double from Matty Fryatt either side of half time sewed the game up for the visitors.

Jim told QPR.co.uk that while his side moved the ball around well at times, there were some players that had their heads at Pride Park this evening.

'I think one or two of our lads thought that it was going to be a natural continuation of how we finished the game at Derby, where we were creating chances at will,' said Jim.

'Unfortunately in this game there are no magic switches, you can't switch on or off. Defensively tonight we were second best - and I think we got our just rewards.'

Magilton's honesty has been a refreshing change during his tenure and it is the first time for a while he has had to cut to the core of the negatives in the Rangers set-up.

He refused however to openly criticise Radek Cerny whose mistake lead to the Leicester winner invariably accepting that any goalkeeping error would lead to a goal - but did concede that the absence of Gavin Mahon was a big loss.

The importance from Jim's perspective was to put this result behind them and head into the Palace game on Tuesday night with a refreshed mind.

'I think he (Mahon) was a loss without any shadow of a doubt, but we're not going to use him as an excuse,' Jim continued.

'It is important that we bounce back against Palace. Hopefully I'm smiling on Tuesday night.

'I'm encouraged by our recent fine form and I'm not going to go over the top with one loss.

'We'll see how we are against Palace, it'll be a real test of character for us - let's see who's prepared to stand up.'

The R's now host what is a crucial test to their resilience against Crystal Palace on Tuesday night.

The game was originally scheduled for September 15, but the fixture was postponed due to adverse weather conditions in West London.




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