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- QPR Stay top, after coming from 0-2 to score twice in injury time to draw 2-2 at Derby County. Agyemang and Mackie scoring
- Warnock Audio Comments/BBC
Sporting Life - WARNOCK PRAISES SPIRIT OF PLAYERS
QPR manager Neil Warnock paid tribute to the "Dunkirk spirit" of his players after they snatched a dramatic draw at Derby.
Rangers looked certain to suffer their first npower Championship defeat of the season when they trailed 2-0 to goals from Kris Commons and James Bailey.
But stoppage-time goals from Patrick Agyemang and Jamie Mackie stunned the Pride Park faithful to earn the visitors an unlikely point which keeps them top of the table.
Warnock said: "I think a lot of teams might have packed up at that late stage.
"But I said to the players before the game that there are going to be times this season when we go two or three nil down.
"But I always think that we can get a result because I believe we are capable of scoring goals in a split second.
"I didn't realise it was going to be 90 plus minutes when we scored two goals but it just goes to show that you never give in.
"I thought we were poor in the first half but all credit to the players, we went positive with the substitutions and Paddy (Kenny) made a great save at 2-1 so it was a great team effort to scrap and get a result.
"It feels like a win when you score so late in the game. We have got seven or eight new players and it does take a while so how we can be among the favourites (for promotion) I haven't got a clue.
"I think we are a sixth to 10th team at the moment although results like this do help with morale. It helps build confidence.
"Last year, we had eight loan players so we didn't have what I call Dunkirk spirit that we showed today."
Derby manager Nigel Clough felt the result was harsh on his players, with the Rams without a win since the opening day of the season.
He said: "It's frustrating. We played so well for so long and then we got punished at the end but that's been the story of the last three league games.
"There have been three good performances but we've not quite got our reward for them. We always felt that if the first one goes in it changes the game.
"If you don't concede it doesn't give them the inspiration to throw everything forward and then anything can happen.
"I thought that we should have finished it off and made it 3-1 in stoppage time but at the moment, we can't finish games off and we can't quite hang on at the other end.
"They (the players) are going to have a few days in Spain so that will help them to get over this and it would have been nice to go into the break with three points.
"But I think that when we sit down and analyse it and put it into context the performance today without a striker on the pitch in the second half and the effort that has gone in was absolutely magnificent.
"We can't ask any more from the players so that's a good start and there was some good play and two very good goals so that gives us a lot of encouragement." Sporting Life
QPR Official Site - WARNOCK: 'DUNKIRK SPIRIT!'
Posted on: Sat 28 Aug 2010
R's gaffer Neil Warnock failed to hide his delight, as the R's fought back from two goals down to grab an unlikely share of the spoils against Derby.
Stoppage time goals from Patrick Agyemang and Jamie Mackie ensured Rangers' unbeaten start to the season continued in dramatic fashion.
"All credit to the players - that was Dunkirk spirit in every sense of the word," he told www.qpr.co.uk.
"We were very positive with the substitutions and it had the impact I hoped it would.
"It was a great team effort at the end, even though we were nowhere near our best.
"It feels like a win when it comes so late in the game!"
Despite the last-gasp heroics, Warnock once again refused to get carried away, adding: "How we can be amongst the favorites to win the division with eight new players in the squad is beyond me.
"I think we're sixth to tenth position at the moment.
"Results like that will help the morale and the confidence within the group.
"We never had any of that spirit with all the loan players last year, but we have now and that's fantastic."
With just days remaining before the transfer window closes, Warnock is still confident he can add to his squad, commenting: "I still want to bring two players in to the Club.
"I've got four strikers and three wide players on my list and I'd like one of each.
"We just need a couple more to add to the options we've got." QPR
BBC - Warnock cools QPR's promotion expectations
Warnock is keen to bring in two players at QPR
QPR manager Neil Warnock played down suggestions his side are among the favourites for Championship promotion, after a nail-biting draw with Derby.
Warnock's men came back from 2-0 down with two dramatic stoppage-time goals to share the points and stay top.
"How we can be amongst the favourites to win the division with eight new players in the squad is beyond me," said Warnock.
"I think we're [likely to finish in] sixth to 10th position at the moment."
Kris Commons and James Bailey had put Derby ahead at Pride Park and they looked on course for victory until Patrick Agyemang and Jamie Mackie struck in the 92nd and 95th minutes for the visitors.
"I think a lot of teams might have packed up at that late stage," added Warnock.
"But I said to the players before the game that there are going to be times this season when we go two or three-nil down.
"I always think that we can get a result because I believe we are capable of scoring goals in a split second.
We can't finish games off and we can't quite hang on at the other end
Derby boss Nigel Clough
"I didn't realise it was going to be 90-plus minutes when we scored two goals but it just goes to show that you never give in.
"I thought we were poor in the first half but all credit to the players, we went positive with the substitutions and Paddy [Kenny] made a great save at 2-1 so it was a great team effort to scrap and get a result.
"It feels like a win when you score so late in the game."
Warnock also revealed he will be attempting to reinforce his squad before the transfer deadline at 1800 BST on Tuesday.
"I still want to bring two players to the club," he said. "I've got four strikers and three wide players on my list and I'd like one of each.
606: DEBATE
What are your thoughts on the game?
"We just need a couple more to add to the options we've got."
Derby boss Nigel Clough believes his side need to learn how to close out games but tried to take the positives from their display.
"It's frustrating. We played so well for so long and then we got punished at the end but that's been the story of the last three league games," said Clough.
"There have been three good performances but we've not quite got our reward for them.
"I thought that we should have finished it off and made it 3-1 in stoppage time but, at the moment, we can't finish games off and we can't quite hang on at the other end.
"They [the players] are going to have a few days in Spain so that will help them to get over this
"It would have been nice to go into the break with three points but I think that when we sit down and analyse it and put it into context the performance and the effort that has gone in was absolutely magnificent." BBC
QPR Official Site
QPR snatched a point from the jaws of defeat, as two second-half stoppage time strikes from Patrick Agyemang and Jamie Mackie earned the R's a dramatic share of the spoils at Pride Park.
On a rollercoaster afternoon for the Hoops, the Rams took the lead five minutes before half-time when Kris Commons expertly tucked away Paul Green's cutting centre from close range.
Rangers started the second half brightly, but they were further behind on 59 minutes when James Bailey put the hosts two goals to the good.
Tomasz Cywka found space down the left before squaring the ball back to James Bailey on the edge of the penalty area, who swept the ball home into the bottom right-hand corner.
However, such is the spirit in the R's camp at present, they bounced back with two injury-time strikes in the second half to clinch a point.
First, Agyemang stole through on goal to slot home from 10-yards out following Leon Clarke's flick-on.
And four minutes into stoppage time, the comeback was complete.
Mackie evaded two challenges before bursting into the area and smashing the ball low past Stephen Bywater to send the travelling R's masses into delirium.
Rangers remained unchanged in a 4-2-3-1 formation for the trip to hosts Derby.
Paddy Kenny was in goal for the R's, behind a back four of Bradley Orr, Matt Connolly, Kaspars Gorkss and Clint Hill.
Shaun Derry and Alejandro Faurlin were in defensive midfield, with Mackie, Adel Taarabt and Hogan Ephraim operating in more advanced positions.
Frontman Heidar Helguson led the Hoops attack.
In front a healthy and loud R's following in the East Midlands, QPR were straight out of the traps and only a splendid one-handed save from Stephen Bywater ensured the match remained without a goal.
Hill's clearance from deep was superbly controlled by Ephraim, who in turn touched the ball to Taarabt. The Moroccan magician danced past two players and into the area before unleashing a stinging low drive that was excellently beaten away from the target - but only as far as Mackie.
The R's attacker looked certain to net from the follow-up, only to see his shot blocked away on the goal-line for a corner kick.
Moments later, the Rams fashioned their first effort at goal. Commons picked up possession midway into the QPR half before running at the visitors' defence and drilling an effort just wide of Kenny's bottom left-hand post.
It was to be a lively opening 15 minutes to the fixture, with the pre-match hype surrounding the much-anticipated clash of Taarabt and Robbie Savage living up to its billing at Pride Park.
Taarabt was then soon involved again, firing a ridiculously ambitious free-kick just wide from all of 35 yards from the target.
The clash may have started at quite a pace, but a period of lull was soon to follow, as a midfield battle began to ensue in the driving late summer rain.
It was a battle that the Rams momentarily took control of as they raced into a 40th minute lead - the first goal that QPR have conceded this season.
Paul Green played the architect, doing well to slip past his marker down the left and cut the ball back into the area in the direction of Commons.
Unmarked at the back post, Commons remained as cool as a cucumber to dink the ball over the diving Kenny and into the back of the net.
Just before the interval Taarabt again tried an audacious free-kick effort from 35-yards out, but his shot sailed handsomely over the goal.
Mindful of being a goal down, QPR came out for the second period with a spell of neat, intricate football in the opening five minutes.
Indeed, super possession play between Gorkss, Hill and Taarabt set Ephraim free down the left before the R's wing wizard was brought down on the left-hand side of the box for a free-kick.
From the resultant set-piece, Taarabt's lovely, out-swinging corner needed only a touch to find the target before the ball was nodded behind for a corner.
However, though they made a positive start to the closing half, QPR found themselves two behind on 59 minutes.
Fantastic endeavour from substitute Cywka saw the striker beat his marker down the left-hand channel before he laid the ball back to James Bailey on the edge of the penalty area.
Bailey took a touch before executing a fantastic finish, curling the ball around Kenny and into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal.
In an attempt to reduce the deficit, R's gaffer Neil Warnock made three changes in next ten minutes that were to follow, with Derry, Helguson and Taarabt making way for Akos Buzsaky, Agyemang and Clarke respectively.
The substitutions didn't have an immediate impact, but as stoppage time approached Rangers would defy the odds to snatch a remarkable point.
It was to be one of the substitutes who hauled QPR right back into the affair.
Following a long ball from deep, Clarke rose highest midway into the Rams half to nod the ball on for Agyemang.
The striker did brilliantly to beat his marker - and his finish was even better, tucking the ball away from an acute angle and past Bywater.
If anyone deserved a point for their individual display it was the hard-working Mackie, whose determination was ever-present even when the R's were dead and buried.
And he got his reward in some style in the fourth minute of added time.
Mackie picked up possession just outside the box, before muscling his way past two challenges and drilling the ball low past Bywater and into the bottom left-hand corner - cueing absolute carnage amongst the R's faithful in the visitors' end.
Derby County: Bywater, Brayford, Roberts, Green, Barker, Leacock, Savage, Commons (Cywka 45), Bailey, Moxey (Ball 90), Doyle (Martin 57).
Subs: Deeney, Buxton, Pringle, O'Brien.
Goals: Commons (40), Bailey (59)
Bookings: Moxey (33)
QPR: Kenny, Orr, Hill, Derry (Buzsaky 61), Taarabt (Clarke 70), Helguson (Agyemang 62), Faurlin, Mackie, Gorkss, Connolly, Ephraim.
Subs: Cerny, Leigertwood, Ramage, German.
Goals: Agyemang (90 +1), Mackie (90 +4)
Bookings: Hill (37)
Referee: Mr M Haywood
Attendance: 25, 874 (1655 - QPR
Telegraph - Derby County 2 Queens Park Rangers 2: match report
Read a full match report of the Championship game between Derby County and Queens Park Rangers at Pride Park on Saturday Aug 28 2010.
Queens Park Rangers struck twice in injury-time to rescue a dramatic 2-2 draw and preserve both their unbeaten record and top spot in the Championship.
Trailing to goals from Kris Commons and James Bailey, Neil Warnock's side looked beaten but substitute Patrick Agyemang scored what looked like a consolation goal in the second minute of added time.
Jamie Mackie then struck with virtually the last kick of the game to leave Derby deflated.
The Rams went into the game having lost their last three matches in all competitions since beating Leeds on the opening day of the campaign, while Rangers arrived at Pride Park with a 100% league record.
Adel Taarabt, who shone in this fixture last season, was denied by a fine save from Stephen Bywater following a mazy run early on.
Perhaps Derby had learned their lesson of almost 12 months ago as Nigel Clough used Robbie Savage to man-mark the Moroccan for long periods and that was as dangerous as he was all afternoon.
The Rams should have gone ahead after 13 minutes when Conor Doyle's cross was deflected into the path of Savage who laid the ball off to Shaun Barker, but the big defender shot into the side-netting.
Alejandro Faurlin threatened either side of the half-hour mark but failed to work Bywater on both occasions.
Paul Green and Dean Moxey linked up well to create the opening goal for Commons after 40 minutes. The Scotland international latched on to Moxey's pass from the left before casually lifting the ball over the advancing Paddy Kenny.
It was the first Championship goal that QPR had conceded this season.
Bailey put Derby 2-0 up just before the hour mark when he found the bottom corner with a shot from the edge of the area.
Clough's side looked comfortable but Agyemang, a 62nd-minute replacement for Heidar Helguson, beat Barker for pace before firing the ball beyond Bywater.
Kenny kept Rangers in the game with a fine parrying save to thwart Bailey before the visitors broke and, to the amazement of everyone inside Pride Park, levelled through Mackie's 18-yard shot in the six-minute of injury-time. Telegraph
DERBY COUNTY OFFICIAL SITE
Derby County surrended two goals in injury time as Championship leaders QPR held the Rams to a 2-2 draw at Pride Park.
Kris Commons' goal late in the first half put Derby on their way, and James Bailey looked to wrapped up the victory before the hour.
But Patrick Agyemang and then Jamie Mackie crashed home injury time goals to break Derby's hearts when a deserved win looked to be the outcome.
With Rob Hulse and Chris Porter still nursing injuries, Commons led the line up front as Nigel Clough named an unchanged side from last week's line-up at Coventry.
The only change was tactical, with Commons operating up top and Dean Moxey on the left of the attacking midfield three.
Youngsters Mark O'Brien and Callum Ball drafted into the matchday squad as substitutes as a result of Derby's injury problems.
Hulse and Porter joined Pearson, Addison, Davies and Anderson on the sidelines and Tomasz Cywka was deemed unfit to start after sustaining a fractured cheekbone a fortnight ago against Cardiff City.
In his pre-match press briefing this week Clough had stated that one of QPR's main strengths was the way their have made blistering starts to games this season.
Neil Warnock's side showed their danger within three minutes, with Bywater called into action to make a low stop to keep out the dangerous Adel Taarbat.
The loose ball fell to Jamie Mackie, but his goalwards effort was blocked by Roberts for a corner.
Commons was pivotal to Derby's best moves of the half, getting on the ball and keeping the Rs defence on their toes.
He tried his range on eight minutes with a long range effort, but Kenny saw the shot drift wide.
Shaun Barker almost registered his name on the scoresheet for the first time this season before the fifteen minute mark, but he dragged his left-foot shot into the side netting from Conor Doyle's corner.
Neither goalkeeper was seriously tested in the first period, but five minutes before the interval Derby got the breakthrough their persistence deserved.
Moxey and Green combined well down the left, and the former's low cross expertly guided into the back of the net by Commons from a few yards out.
The Scot shimmied to shoot, leaving Kenny grounded as he slotted the ball past the former Sheffield United goalkeeper for his second goal of the season.
It was the first goal Rangers had conceded in the Championship this season, with Derby showing their quality to create and finish the move in expert fashion.
Moments before the break Commons was withdrawn from the action as a precaution after feeling his hamstring tighten, and he was replaced by Cywka.
That move saw Moxey move up front, and Cywka - with the aid of his protective mask - slotted into the attacking midfield three.
Derby continued to frustrate their opponents early in the second period, who were given no time on the ball and little opportunity to get the influential Taarabt into the game.
Clough opted to make his second change of the game early in the half, bringing Dave Martin on for the hardworking Doyle who had run himself into the ground.
But it was the other substitute, Cywka, who stretched the visitors' defence for the Rams to double their lead a minute before the hour.
Cywka worked is way into the area with some neat footwork, and he picked out Bailey lurking unmarked on the edge of the box, and he curled a delightful effort from outside the area beyond Kenny for his first ever career goal.
Derby didn't rest on their laurels, and kept the high energy approach which had seen them deservedly get into the winning position their found themselves in.
Roberts, Cywka and Bailey all had the confidence to try their luck from range, but on each occasion they were thwarted by Kenny.
QPR rang the changes in hope of pulling back at least a goal, and their travelling support were rewarded with a late goal from Agyemang from close range but Derby had done more than enough to take the points.
Bailey had a golden chance to make it 3-1 in the closing seconds, but Kenny pulled off a fine save....and it was a miss Derby that would come back to haunt the Rams.
Straight down the other end Mackie let fly with a thunderous low drive which flew past Bywater to send the QPR players, staff and fans wild.
From nowhere, they had fought back to take a point.
It was heartbreaking stuff for Derby who left the field with their chins on the floor.
It may be hard right now, but there so many positives to take from the game.
Derby frustratingly have to wait two weeks now for their next game, at home to Sheffield United.
Attendance: 25,874 (1,655 QPR fans)
Collstream Man of the Match: James Bailey - Derby
1 QPR 4 9 10
2 Cardiff 4 7 10
3 Ipswich 4 5 10
4 Millwall 4 7 9
5 Burnley 4 3 7
6 Leeds United 4 2 7
7 Norwich 4 2 7
8 Coventry 4 1 7
9 Doncaster 4 0 7
10 Barnsley 4 -1 7
11 Scunthorpe 4 1 6
12 Swansea 4 1 6
13 Reading 4 0 5
14 Watford 4 0 5
15 Derby 4 -1 4
16 Middlesbrough 4 -3 4
17 Sheff Utd 4 -3 4
18 Hull 4 -4 4
19 Nott'm Forest 4 -1 3
20 Crystal Palace 4 -4 3
21 Preston 4 -6 3
22 Bristol City 4 -5 2
23 Leicester 4 -5 1
24 Portsmouth 4 -5 1 BBC
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- England Seeking to Get Spaniard to Play for England
- Allesandro Pellicori Returning to Italy (on Loan)
- Flashback: Pellicori Joins QPR
- Flashback VIDEO: Gordon Jago's QPR of Bowles, Thomas Givens and Franci guarantee Promotion with win at Millwall
- Portsmouth Programme Idea: Reproduce Old Programmes
- Video: QPR's 1975/76 Championship Battle at Home to Derby County (Sadly NOT the 5-1 away win at Derby County that same season)
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