Sheff Wed boss Brian Laws was delighted with a 1-0 victory over QPR, despite a number of injuries.
Injury triple-blow leaves Owls boss counting cost of narrow win
Sheffield Wednesday boss Brian Laws was delighted with Tuesday's 1-0 victory over QPR, despite a number of injuries to key players.
Leon Clarke netted the game's only goal in the second half, following up a spilled shot from Rangers goalkeeper Radek Cerny to give the Owls their third win in four league matches.
But Laws was left to rue injuries to three of his star players with Frank Simek, Wade Small and Etienne Esajas all forced off at Hillsborough.
"It's the same thing which every manager will say when you have not played well; if you grind out a result it's a positive result," Laws said.
"I'm pleased in that respect but it has come at a cost.
Blow
"We couldn't play Lewis Buxton from the beginning because he was ill so we had to put Frank Simek in, which I was really, really unsure about because he was already feeling tired and fatigued, and he has come off with a hamstring injury.
"Wade Small has been forced off when the ball hit him in the eye and produced blood all over, so he is off to hospital.
"And Etienne Esajas has busted his toe, so while we have had a good result, goodness knows who will be playing on Saturday because I haven't a clue."
The Owls were fortunate to come away with the spoils as misfiring QPR, who dominated for much of the 90 minutes, continued to toil in front of goal.
The Londoners have only scored twice on their travels all season and skipper Martin Rowlands wasted a golden opportunity to record Rangers' first away goal in more than 700 minutes of football as his first-half penalty was saved by Lee Grant.
And the visitors were made to pay when Clarke was first to react to Cerny's parry from Marcus Tudgay's shot in the 75th minute to chip the ball into the empty net.
Upbeat
QPR boss Paulo Sousa refused to be down despite the result and believes an away goal is just around the corner.
"I am not worried because I am a positive person and I believe my players can pass this moment and get the confidence to score," he said.
"I would be much more worried if we were not creating opportunities but we need to be more aggressive in front of goal.
"When you control a game and create chances I am happy but we must now believe more in front of goal and the goals will come.
"It is a chance missed, we need to come to these sorts of places and get a result, but we need to get points in our upcoming games."
