Boss Mick McCarthy says he’s not envious of his QPR counterpart Harry Redknapp’s greater spending power, believing that he has assembled a good squad without splashing much cash this summer. A last-minute debut goal from debutant Tom Hitchcock saw Rangers to a 1-0 victory over the Blues at Loftus Road on Saturday.
While Redknapp has been able to add to his already star-studded squad by paying fees such as the £4 million paid to Burnley for striker Charlie Austin, McCarthy has made eight free Bosman signings, one loan — Ryan Tunnicliffe from Manchester United — and has spent just £20,000 on former Waterford winger Jack Doherty.
However, the Blues boss says he’s not jealous: "Not at all, I don’t do envy. I deal with what I’ve got and I’ve become pretty adept with dealing with what I’ve got throughout my career, whether that’s my own ability as a footballer or my ability as a manager, when we’ve always had decent success.
"I’m delighted with the players I’ve got. Just because I haven’t spent money on them doesn’t mean I haven’t got good players.”
Despite the Blues falling to two defeats in their first three Championship games, both to relegated former Premier League sides, McCarthy isn’t too downcast: "I don’t on a weekly basis get encouraged, but I’m encouraged by the really tight-knit group of players that we’ve got, the characters that we’ve got and having also seen them in training, the way we’ve played over the three games.
"I think [QPR] will be one of the favourites for it, of course, and if they get in any trouble with players they’ll probably go and get some more. That’s if they need any more.”
QPR assistant boss Kevin Bond, standing in for Harry Redknapp who is on crutches having undergone knee surgery, hopes Saturday’s last-gasp victory will prove to be significant come May: "You hope when you look back at the end of the season days like today will be really, really important for us.
"From a momentum point of view, it keeps us going, we’ve won again. And the atmosphere in the dressing room is vastly different when you’ve got a late winner. Everyone’s delighted and looked forward to next week.”
Meanwhile, Town's U21s get their Professional Development League Two campaign underway tonight with a game against Cardiff City at Portman Road (KO 7pm). Admission is free.