Warnock lauds QPR spirit

Warnock: Praise for players

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Neil Warnock paid tribute to the character of his Queens Park Rangers side following the 2-2 draw with Derby.

QPR trailed 2-0 heading into the closing stages at Pride Park but salvaged a point thanks to stoppage-time goals from Patrick Agyemang and Jamie Mackie.

Warnock was delighted that his side kept fighting until the end and managed to preserve their unbeaten record this season.

"I think a lot of teams might have packed up at that late stage," said the manager.

"But I said to the players before the game that there are going to be times this season when we go two or three-nil down.

"But I always think that we can get a result because I believe we are capable of scoring goals in a split second.

"I didn't realise it was going to be 90-plus minutes when we scored two goals but it just goes to show that you never give in.

"I thought we were poor in the first half but all credit to the players, we went positive with the substitutions and Paddy (Kenny) made a great save at 2-1 so it was a great team effort to scrap and get a result.

"It feels like a win when you score so late in the game. We have got seven or eight new players and it does take a while so how we can be among the favourites (for promotion) I haven't got a clue.

"I think we are a sixth to 10th team at the moment although results like this do help with morale. It helps build confidence.

"Last year, we had eight loan players so we didn't have what I call Dunkirk spirit that we showed today."

Derby reaction

Derby manager Nigel Clough felt the result was harsh on his players, with the Rams without a win since the opening day of the season.

He said: "It's frustrating. We played so well for so long and then we got punished at the end but that's been the story of the last three league games.

"There have been three good performances but we've not quite got our reward for them. We always felt that if the first one goes in it changes the game.

"If you don't concede it doesn't give them the inspiration to throw everything forward and then anything can happen.

"I thought that we should have finished it off and made it 3-1 in stoppage time but at the moment, we can't finish games off and we can't quite hang on at the other end.

"They (the players) are going to have a few days in Spain so that will help them to get over this and it would have been nice to go into the break with three points.

"But I think that when we sit down and analyse it and put it into context the performance today without a striker on the pitch in the second half and the effort that has gone in was absolutely magnificent.

"We can't ask any more from the players so that's a good start and there was some good play and two very good goals so that gives us a lot of encouragement."