Manager Mick McCarthy thought his side were on their way to a good point before debutant Tom Hitchcock’s last-minute winner for QPR at Loftus Road.

Asked whether he felt the goal had been on the way after the home side spurned a number of decent chances, most notably Charlie Austin crashing a shot against the bar when he seemed destined to score, McCarthy said: “Did I hell feel it was coming. We just didn’t do enough in that 90th minute.”

QPR assistant manager Kevin Bond spoke to the press before McCarthy and said that his club’s management thought it was going to be one of those days where a team does everything but score, but McCarthy thought it was a different story before the break.

“I’m sure he didn’t feel it was going to be one of those days when Robert Green pulled off that save from Murph in the first half and we were having chance after chance and it was an even game. Strange that, isn’t it?

“I thought it was going to be a really good point until we didn’t defend it in the last minute,” he said.

As at Reading the Blues played well but without having anything to show for it, but McCarthy wasn’t in the mood for taking positives from the display: “That’s for Monday morning, ‘Pleased with the performance’. We’ve been beaten, we’ve got diddly squat to show for it. Play well and getting beat isn’t my idea of fun.

“Second half, they were better than us, I thought we were even to them certainly in the first half. They’ve got some decent players, haven’t they?”

He added: “If you’re looking for yardsticks in terms of performances, both have been pretty good. But if we want to contest the top six, pretty good’s got to be good.

“We’ve got to have a point at Reading, we’ve got to have a point here. Then they can come up and talk about whatever they want.

“But I don’t think they should have beaten us, although I know we got away with one that hit the crossbar. But it was a good performance.”

He says the players were as frustrated as he was about the result: “Bitterly disappointed, as you’d expect them to be.

“I said to them to be a team that progresses and does better than being disappointed, it’s got to be 0-0, it’s got to be a point and we haven’t got one, so there’s no point in patting ourselves on the back saying ‘Well played’ because we’ve got diddly to show for it.”

Despite some of his players protesting after the goal, McCarthy had no complaints: “It hasn’t gone out. If they’re appealing for offside with Chambo off the pitch. If the ball goes in the net you want people to complain about it because you don’t want to say ‘That’s great, a goal’.

“They were looking for it to get disallowed for some reason, I guess, maybe they thought it was offside. Chambo had slipped off the pitch but in general play he wasn’t offside and it was a goal.”

The Town boss confirmed that midfielder Cole Skuse was replaced at half-time due to injury: “He’s jarred his Achilles’ and I hope he’ll be OK, I thought he was excellent. I thought Ryan Tunnicliffe did well. But we don’t want to be losing players, we’ve only got 20.”

He says Paul Taylor’s replacement 24 minutes after coming on as a sub was tactical: “No injury at all, I put my faith and trust in him to go on thinking he was ready but I don’t think he is. He needs to get games. We’re trying to get him fit with 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there.

“He needs some games and I just thought he could have been the difference because he’d got that ability, but we were having to defend and Frank’s bigger than him and can defend corners and freekicks better than him.

“I thought he was the right one to take off. Plus Frank’s got good pace and power, he can run in the channels for us.”

Asked whether Taylor took the decision well, McCarthy added: “I don’t care. I haven’t explained it to him because it’s not the right time. Straight after the game he’s feeling sore about it, it’s not the time or place to do that. Calm, Monday.

“I make my decisions and it was the right decision. It’s not cost us at all, it’s not been that that’s done it. It’s one of those. You’ve just got to accept and try and get him some football.”

The Town boss says keeper Dean Gerken should be available again next week: “He’s got a dead leg and I’m hopeful he’ll be OK for next week.”

With Harry Redknapp still on crutches after knee surgery, his assistant Kevin Bond took on press duties and said they were delighted with their debutant match-winner Tom Hitchcock: “He’s a goalscorer. He can find the back of the net in training, that’s the thing that he can do.

“Charlie Austin had a number of good chances, they seemed to fall to him, so it was getting late in the game, and we thought we’d just try him, have a little look and there he was, he just popped up at the far post.”

He added: “We thought it was going to be one of those days. The one that Charlie brought down and smashed against the crossbar.

“When he missed that, we thought maybe it wasn’t going to be our day. But we kept going, the lads worked really hard and should have won the game. It looked like we weren’t going to do it, but thankfully in the end, we did.”

Photo: Action Images

bluefeast added 18:50 - Aug 17 Paul Taylor is our best player and now his confidence is shot to bits. Another Jet story coming here I He says Paul Taylor's replacement 24 minutes after coming on as a sub was tactical: “No injury at all, I put my faith and trust in him to go on thinking he was ready but I don't think he is. He needs to get games. We're trying to get him fit with 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there. “He needs some games and I just thought he could have been the difference because he'd got that ability, but we were having to defend and Frank's bigger than him and can defend corners and freekicks better than him. “I thought he was the right one to take off. Plus Frank's got good pace and power, he can run in the channels for us.” Asked whether Taylor took the decision well, McCarthy added: “I don't care. I haven't explained it to him because it's not the right time. Straight after the game he's feeling sore about it, it's not the time or place to do that. Calm, Monday. “I make my decisions and it was the right decision. It's not cost us at all, it's not been that that's done it. It's one of those. You've just got to accept and try and get him some football.” feel.

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Sindre94 added 18:51 - Aug 17 The comments about Taylor worries me. Wonder how Paul's confidence is now, but Mick obviously doesnt give a s*it. Poor MAN MANAGEMENT in my honest opinion. Dislike my comment all you want.
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bluefeast added 18:52 - Aug 17 MM reminding me of his last few months at Wolves ,odd decisions ,pressure getting to him. Lost 3 WON ONE FROM FOUR. We are a sham again I fear, this team have no winning mentality.
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bluefeast added 18:55 - Aug 17 Taylor will leave in Jan if not before. He clearly isn't big and strong ,MM like power players ,not skilful creative ones. That really annoys me ,and today was really bad management. You could see the other players heads drop when MM took Paul Taylor off after only being on 25 mins. MM that was terrible management and it bit you on the ars8
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Blue_Dwarf added 18:56 - Aug 17 Seriously guys we have played QPR and Reading away and narrowly lost both. Mick knows what he is doing and it's true what he says about Taylor... Just let him manage and support the team
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bluefeast added 18:57 - Aug 17 Bad tactics at Reading 2nd half ,Bad today ,terrible for Stevenage and 2nd half today capped it.
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Sindre94 added 18:57 - Aug 17 It's early doors and all we hear is talk of good performances etc. I know all that. But I honestly have true worries about our attacking options when we NEED a goal. Taylor is the only player, maybe with McGoldrick, who can create something out of nothing when we desperately need it. JET is the sort of player we could have needed at the end today, or at Reading, when everything looks lost and we dont look like scoring. Mick clearly doesnt fancy that type of player

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bluefeast added 18:58 - Aug 17 Short Blue.... I disagree ,player on player off after 25 mins due to tactics , says I do not have a clue.
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bluefeast added 19:00 - Aug 17 Nobody can be inspired about having a decent season. Our front 4 do not have pace and do not create. A SYSTEM WITH 2 HOLDINGS MIDS NEEDS PACE AND FLAIR. wE DO NOT MAKE THE OPOSITION WORRY. itS SHOCKING IM SICK OF IT AND ITS NOT ENTERTAINMENT IS IT.
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groovyASH added 19:02 - Aug 17 Taylor has done little to justify this ticket of our ''best player'' some Town fans are slapping on him. In exactly what way is he our best player? What has he done to justify that? Fickle fans, as ever. As for the result, 2 away games against the 2 favourites for promotion was always going to be a big ask. The effort and commitment is not lacking, and that alone will be enough for a reasonable finish after 46 games, and not 3. We are lacking in forward quality, and finishing, we can all see that. But Rome was not built in a day, Mick cannot sign 20 new players and start again, like our two previous managers did year after year. He will know our shortcomings and will know what he has to build on.

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jas0999 added 19:02 - Aug 17 Must improve and quick. Marcus needs to free up money - after all he let jewell and Roy spend. Feel sorry for mick, but this team is mid table at best. No goals from a striker in four games. Poor. Murphy not good enough. Need creativity as well. Optimism gone - not because of just this game, but even after last week. Strikers can't score.
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Blue_Dwarf added 19:03 - Aug 17 Bluefeast - He put Taylor on as sub and he didn't contribute enough, it happens. Wouldn't read too much into it may actually act as motivation for Taylor, more than one way to manage people and in Mick we have a far superior manager than the previous clown like Jewell
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BigginBlue added 19:03 - Aug 17 Some ridiculous comments above. Fundamentally we have played the two best sides in the league and narrowly lost both times. We played against one of the worst and smashed them. Nobody at the start of this season thought about us getting automatic, but just because we've lost to these two doesn't mean in the slightest we've lost hope of playoffs. We've got leeds next, a team out standard, watch these comments change after a solid 1-0 or 2-1 win. Some ipswich fans so quick to look for scapegoats when not looking at the bigger picture.

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danger_matt added 19:04 - Aug 17 Have to agree it was an odd decision to take Taylor off. He looked lively even if he hadn't had a clear cut chance. Plus it was Nouble who put that cynical shove on Barton which resulted in the goal from the freekick, so there was a direct consequence. I'm not saying alarm bells are ringing but slightly concerning after a performance that lacked any ideas going forward.

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oddball added 19:04 - Aug 17 Bluefeast shut up, what a whinger!
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jas0999 added 19:05 - Aug 17 P.s. not sure why people keep saying Taylor is our best player - what justification? He cost a lot maybe ... But what has he done to suggest he's brilliant? Maybe another poor Paul jewell buy?
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danger_matt added 19:06 - Aug 17 Also, Skuse is a class act, very important that he stays fit. We looked a lot less confident through the middle once he went off.
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toxtethblue added 19:07 - Aug 17 MM felt Taylor sub was for the best at that point in the game. Should he have kept him on in case it hurt PT's feelings?! Ffs. He's a professional, he'll get over it. Of course MM cares.
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JWM added 19:13 - Aug 17 Bluefeast Change the record or put a sock in it as you are becoming boring and tedious. We are only 3 games into the season and the way you are talking we are doomed already. Mick is the best manager we have had since Joe Royle and I would rather trust his judgements on football then reading your tedious drivel.
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sirmichealmills added 19:14 - Aug 17 It's simple really... 1.our we better than last season? 1.yes, but that's not hard 2.our we top six? 2. Not really 3.our we bottom three? 3. No 4.on current squad where should we finish? 4. 11-14th Yours sincerely M.Evans
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clarkey01 added 19:22 - Aug 17 Some of you lot are a bunch of tw...s. it's been 3 games, 2 of which were away and to 2 relegated prem sides. We have 2 narrow defeats and all of a sudden mick don't know what he' s doing. Taylor is not the first sub to be substituted and won't be the last. Let mick get on with it and support what he is doing. That goes especially for you Bluefeast cause your the biggest t..t of them all.

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blueherts added 19:23 - Aug 17 Just back - few things Skuse in the middle is doing well and we missed him second half QPR have quality players in abundance and I thought we matched em for an hour Luke Hyam - please have confidence to shoot occassionally Edwards - I would have bought Taylor on for him - running at players Launching long balls at McGoldrick and Taylor against Dunne etc aint good tactics Nouble is not the answer We have played two the fancied teams to go up this year away and just lost - not been outplayed at all No need to worry !!! Oh and Calamity Green - if u wnat the match ball I have it with me - lucky we dont press charges for your stupid outburst - USA USA !!! We will be fine but need another Number 9

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Tonyitfc82 added 19:26 - Aug 17 No point moaning moaners. We have a much better team than last season and a much better manager. Our season starts from now. We have had a very difficult start with two premier league teams away from home. We have only lost by one goal and really didnt deserve to lose on either games. A top six finish is more than achievable. in MM I trust.
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J4ck22 added 19:28 - Aug 17 These comments are a joke, right?
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buryblue77 added 19:39 - Aug 17 People, we've just narrowly lost in the 90th minute to a side who shouldn't even be down in this division. It worries me what peoples expectations are, I'm sure we will beat most of those clubs who are around us in ability as the season gets going. I do agree that we need a striker and more creativity in midfield but I don't think it's as much doom and gloom as some make out.

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