QPR manager delighted by Nigeria star-inspired win

Jordan Hugill and Ebere Eze got the goals that lifted Rangers over Stoke on Saturday, leaving MARK Warburton unsurprisingly thrilled.

QPR kicked off their new Sky Bet Championship season with a win with Jordan Hugill’s eight minute opener and Nigeria’s Ebere Eze’s second half finish helping the R’s to a 2-1 victory over promotion hopefuls Stoke City. Stoke’s Sam Clucas’ 78th-minute reply only proved to be a consolation strike and no more.

Speaking shortly after the full-time whistle in Staffordshire, Warburton told www.qpr.co.uk: “I’m delighted – delighted for the players and all of the supporters.”

“The players have worked so hard in pre-season. We’ve brought in 14 new players and they’ve adapted so well, worked so hard and taken on board some good ideas.

“All credit to the players today, Stoke is a tough place to come to and to get three points – that’s a tremendous start of us.”

He added: “We knew that Stoke were going to press us, so we had to play a little less football than we’d like to.

“We’ve got players who can take care of the football, but today we had to deal with a very tough opponent – they’ve got Premier League players in their squad who are very talented.

“So we had to be mindful of that, respect it and do what we had to do. I was delighted with the victory and thought we did really well.”

Clucas’ late goal for Stoke ensured a nerve-jangling ending.

“We were 2-0 up and looked comfortable,” Warburton continued. “We were in control and should have added a third goal.

“Then we gave away a goal. Stoke have a real physical threat and had some quality subs to bring on.

“The dynamic of the last 10 or so minutes changed and we had to deal with that – but we stood up and defended our goal with real passion. All credit to the players, now we can enjoy the journey home.”