Burnley's Steve Cotterill Assesses Games

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Burnley' Steve Cotterill - (BURNLEY OFFICIAL SITE)
Cotterill: 'We Could Have Been Four Up'
Burnley boss Steve Cotterill felt his side should have had the game sewn up by half time at Loftus Road.
The Clarets were a goal up through Chris McCann after 10 minutes and went on to enjoy the better of the first half before Rangers got an equaliser in injury time of the first half.
It was the saves from R's goalkeeper Simon Royce which Cotterill believes were the difference between a draw and a win though.
"I thought we should have been four up at half time," said Cotterill.
"Their goalkeeper has made three outstanding saves in the first half after we'd scored and two of them were special saves.
"If they go in, it's game over.
"I've said to Ade that he shouldn't put that down as a bad miss because it was a fantastic save after a great ball from Micah and a great cross by Wade Elliott and then good contact from Ade.
"Then Jon Harley and Brian Jensen got in a bit of a mix-up and they've both put their hand up and said they made a mistake, so that happens.
"I thought our boys were terrific today, particularly in the first half and we showed both sides of us today.
"We played some great football in the first half and we opened them up time and time again, so the game should have been dead and buried by half time.
"In the second half, we had to show the other side of us when they brought on their big lads and threw it in our box, but we showed our resilience and won the headers we needed to.
"All in all, I don't think 1-1 was a fair result, we did enough to win.
"Some of our passing and movement in the first half was excellent and would've opened up any team we'd have played," he added.
"Our energy levels were fantastic, considering it was our fourth game in a week. It's a measure how far we've come because last season we were 3-0 down here in the first half and it could've been six then too!"
The opening strike from Chris McCann was a fine effort too, coming in the week when the Irish youngster had signed his first professional deal with the club.
"It was nice of him to play after signing that contract, because he could've been playing a couple of weeks ago if he'd signed it!" joked Cotterill.
"He's a fantastic prospect, he really is and we've got to make sure that we look after him and nurture him in the right way.
"It will be interesting to see whereabouts he is if he gets a run of four or five games in the team and we need to know what levels he's at then.
"He was fantastic in the first half, but in the second half there were parts of the game that went by him a little bit.
"He hasn't had a game for a while though and him and Kyle Lafferty are both going back to Ireland now for a few days to celebrate Christmas and the new year!"
Cotterill also revealed that Gifton Noel Williams missed the game due to the bad cut he received against Sheffield Wednesday on New Year's Eve.
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Burnley manager Steve Cotterill said: "I don't think a draw was a fair result - we should have won the game."We probably should have been 4-0 up by half-time, but their goalkeeper made two special saves."The one from Ade Akinbiyi was brilliant, and I said to Ade 'make sure you don't put that down as a miss - because it was a great save'."I'm delighted with the boys. This was a measure of how far we've come, because last year when we played here we were 3-0 down at half-time."Some of our passing and movement in the first half was excellent and would have opened up any team."In the first 45 minutes we were fantastic and in the second we were durable. I'm disappointed for the players that we didn't win."Cotterill gave his backing to Holloway, whose future at Loftus Road is reportedly in doubt."He really has done a fantastic job here. There's been all sorts of speculation about his job, and I don't know why," the Burnley boss said of his opposite number."It will be the worst days' work QPR have done in a long time if they get rid of Ian Holloway."
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