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

ipswichjon added 19:48 - Aug 17 Last year under Jewell that match would have seen us shipping 3+ goals, MM has made us more solid and we have a much better work effort. Last year Jewell wouldn't have given a logical reason for subbing/dropping someone (remember the atrocious treatment of Loach?) MM has given a logical reason, Skuse going off meant we lot our control of midfield, MM tried to change things bringing on PT, it didn't work and we needed a different option with height and power so we could defend and alleviate pressure by hitting the channels. MM has given sound footballing reasons for his decision. Anyone moaning about losing by a single goal to 2 relegated teams packed with big money players obviously has NO idea about football.

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bluefeast added 19:48 - Aug 17 interesting isn't it , people have a go over opinion. Mine is simply I enjoy watching my team have ideas in an attacking sense. This season unlike last we will not get trounced ,but neither will we score many goals. The system being employed is great. 2 holding central mid players ,a strong back 4. The four in front of everyone need the following. Understanding ,ball retention skills ,pace , an eye for a goal ,the ability to make something happen quickly ,ie an early cross that allows strikers to attack the space before the ball arrives etc. We seem to lack the forward aspects needed and that will be our problem .

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Mark added 19:50 - Aug 17 We should judge the side based on how we do against the average Championship teams, not the likes of Reading and QPR away - those are always tough and anything is a bonus. We have got the trips to the Majeski and Loftus Road out of the way, and we have 3 points and a +1 goal difference from 3 games. There is no problem.
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Stato added 19:50 - Aug 17 Sadly too many town fans have no ambition and think we are lucky to get narrow defeats to clubs like QPR and Reading. No wonder the budgies are a division above us. Cock up by Mick not to give Taylor more match time in pre season and utter madness that October was given more pre season minutes than Taylor and that Marriott not given any time. I'm still a Mick fan but that won't last if he insists on playing Murphy/Nouble ahead of Taylor.

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StuartBrett8 added 19:52 - Aug 17 I'm fed up we lost, I like my team to win..... it's that simple, let's move on and build ourselves back up for next week.
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J4ck22 added 20:02 - Aug 17 Taylor has just come back from a 10 month injury! Better we wait until he's actually fully fit to play than to just throw him into the team and hope his injury doesn't return. Also I have no idea where this idea that he's our best player has come from, he's played like 3 games for this club...
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RetroBlue added 20:07 - Aug 17 Jeeze! Glad there is no knee jerk reactions on here today after losing just 1-0 to the probable Champions of this division, eh!
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Bluebert added 20:09 - Aug 17 Ipswich Town are better than everybody!!! We will be champions
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Pabloisgod84 added 20:13 - Aug 17 Some of you are off your rockers, im hacked off to bits with the result especially last minute to rub it in but saying Mick hasnt got a clue? do me a favour. if we had 3 easier opening fixtures and had 7 points you would all be crapping on about us winning the league. we will pick points up and be mid table with a chance of playoff push if things click. thats where we are. so to some of you shut your mouths and have an early night.

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IvorFeeling added 20:57 - Aug 17 davecalvert and blueherts i am with you. 3 points from our first 3 games was likely given the opposition, especially playing both of the relegated clubs away from home. We have a squad that is a top 10 squad and that means we are likely to be in the mix for the playoffs. It's early days but after 10 games that will provide abenchmark of where we will be.
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ManningtreeBlue99 added 21:01 - Aug 17 Skuse! the man is a pass-master! and Tunnicliffe! what a player, Fantastic challenge on Joey Barton. Shame he didn't inflict serious pain but it was a good attempt.
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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 21:01 - Aug 17 bluefeast - indeed you are entitled to express your opinion , just as we can express our's at your comments.
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sirmichealmills added 21:03 - Aug 17 1-0 to QPR away is not that bad, alright bit of a git about timing of the goal, could have got a draw Etc, but whatever your opinion on MM,tactics,players I think MIcks had his hands tied over the summer and has had to "make do" , that's not negative that's just realistic, if Keane and jewell hadn't wasted cash on (some) people you can't even give away maybe it would of been different. Top six is just not realistic i.m.o with the current squad, doesn't mean their all crap, MM out, chucking your season ticket, I just don't understand why people think we would get in the play offs With what MM transfer options have been...

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blueherts added 21:11 - Aug 17 Yep , I am still laughing at that idiot Calamity Green - just sent a note to Tony Fernandes saying launching the ball into a crowd with women and children not good PR for Scare Asia .. On the other point - we have now been in the championship for longer than anyone but can still boast a pretty strong squad - we have played two of the richest clubs in the championship - Lets not kid ourselves just like the prem there is no 'level playing field' How many of the 'top clubs' in either Prem or Champ are not backed b some 'dubious' foreign owners - None - its all about overseas owners FFP will highlight alot of their shortcomings over the coming years and as a club we are putting our resources and priorities where they should be - Academy and paying sensible wages We all love our club - but we also have to take off the rose tinted specs of the game we started watching 20 . 30 , 40 or more years ago - the goalposts have moved and we are adapting and I think getting there We have a good management team in place PS I will keep up by pressure on Fernandes I think - a tweet will be next up

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HALLSJ added 21:13 - Aug 17 TONYITFC82 Totally agree , had Reading & QPR to beat us which won me money although would have preferred the 3 pts. As been said already we now need a couple of wins, once that is achieved confidence will be back.
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Stewart27 added 21:19 - Aug 17 Just back from the game. Completely deflated. QPR definitely shaded it but didn't deserve to lose like that. Plus their fans were awful. For a money bags team they were pretty poor. It is worrying that we have no creativity in midfield or a goal scorer Things to note; Edwards - really poor first half in terms of positioning and distribution. Hewett - poor distribution Murphy - need more from a front man Skuse - looked really calm and composed with the ball. Class. Hyam - needs to be more confident with the ball in terms of passing and shooting. Chambers and smith - as solid as always McGoldrick - looked excellent but needs a goal scorer with him

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Chicago_Blue added 21:24 - Aug 17 "It's not cost us at all" - regarding taking off Taylor and bringing on Nouble! Nouble gave away a silly free kick which led to their goal!!!
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LankHenners added 21:34 - Aug 17 It doesn't matter who it was against or how it happened. A loss is a loss and 0 points is 0 points. Heads up and on to the next game where we hope to make up for it.
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muhrensweet4thijssen added 21:37 - Aug 17 Ive Been Millwall home QPR Away... Yeah we look Ok hard to break down and solid! but we do miss a creative spark. I think the reason Taylor came off was either Mick realised he had made a mistake and our restbite ball up to Murphy had gone and we were really under the cosh needed an out ball. Or before he came off McGoldrick was through against Green and I looked to see where his support was in middle and Taylor and Hyam were 20 yards off the box. He was running in treacle to me compared to his normal pacy self. No one to hold the ball up or get hold of it(demand it!!) in the middle of the park. Hewitt looked very gittery to me calmed down a little 2nd half, Edwards final ball...........................................AWFUL!! Skuse looked good until coming off(missed him 2nd half) It was ok but with a bit of class in Midfield and a natural finisher up top we may have been 2-3 goals up before 89th min IMO. We look a good solid middle of the table team which is improvement on last few seaons and with no money to spend I think Mick and Terry are doing a very good job. Cant help thinking we are a couple of really class players short of top six.

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manualthetisfanclub added 21:37 - Aug 17 I'm not panicking but we are a team that lacks a cutting edge,creativity,working hard alone gets you nowhere,second half we barely got out of our own half,giving the ball away so cheaply inviting pressure. The Taylor issue is interesting, in hindsight maybe mick should have bought nouble on instead of Taylor in the first place,having said that nouble ain't the answer neither.this team desperately in need of investment,but alas this workman like team is I'm afraid all we are going to get. This team barely top 10,need to improve drastically! Just a realist imo

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itfc1981 added 22:00 - Aug 17 Sounds as grumpy as me about the result.
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Millsey added 22:00 - Aug 17 You lot really think we are going to win the league. Get real, let Mick run the team and just get behind him
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hollywoodginge added 22:07 - Aug 17 2 away games against the 2 likely automatic promotion candidates, all due respect to Nott'm Forest. Lost both by the odd goal, could easily have drawn both or even won them at a stretch, I see plenty of reason to be optimistic and very little to be pessimistic about. If we carry on like this we will win more than we lose and give ourselves a chance. Gutted about today but I assure you we did better than most will at loftus road this season in terms of a performance. I sense a couple of loans coming over the next few weeks though to bolster the strength in depth and experience to our already well balanced squad. COYB

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AbujaBlue added 22:18 - Aug 17 Isn't it funny that so often the first poster in these threads is an absolute nutjob, but then the sane comments start coming in. Otherwise I echo most of those sane comments. We obviously played well, and I was deflated after conceding like that, but have got the two nastiest fixtures out of the way. A bit like eating the pastry first and then being able to concentrate on the filling. I have confidence the filling will be very delicious indeed.

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BuckieBlue added 22:34 - Aug 17 Usual interesting mix of post match optimism and pessimism! MM has said he/squad are aiming for top 6 so i think we might as well judge things in those terms as well. Therefore bit of pressure on for next Sat-lose and we're probably 5 pts off 6th and back into (our annual) catch up type of season. Win and we're likely just a couple of points off and that'll be a decent start considering the fixs. The big question mark is whether there is anything in the kitty before window shuts? Under PJ bad starts seemed to necessitate last minute (panic?) additions, so in that case I hope they're not needed. Personally I'd like to see the continuity of current being allowed to settle, including seeing how Tunnicliffe, and Anderson can contribute. (Monday's MM/Taylor chat could be interesting-and important-, hope MM does see him as being part of his set up.

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