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Charlie Eccleshare at Daily Telegraph |
QPR (0) 1-3 (3) Fulham
Queens Park Rangers manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink said his team would have to 'start again' after a humbling 3-1 home defeat against Fulham yesterday.
QPR had been much improved in recent weeks and were unbeaten in five matches before being outplayed here by Fulham, who won under Slavisa Jokanovic for the first time at the seventh attempt.
After seeing his side blown away by three goals in 12 first-half minutes, Hasselbaink said: "We were making steps forward. I didn't see this one coming at all. It's two steps back, it's starting again and getting things right, and taking responsibility and starting to look at ourselves again."
The hosts started the match slowly, and deservedly fell behind to Ross McCormack's well-taken goal in the 35th minute.
Moussa Dembele doubled Fulham's lead shortly after, nodding in Jamie O'Hara's pinpoint cross from close range, before Tom Cairney's scuffed finish made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time.
The half-time whistle was met with a chorus of boos and whistles from the home supporters, which disappointed Hasselbaink.
"Do I like it [the booing]? No.
Do I want them to cheer on and help their own players?
Yes, of course, because that will help the players play better instead of their own fans booing them," he said.
"I can understand their frustration.
But we need support until the last minute - I've asked that before, and I will keep asking that.
They need to be our 12th man, even when things are not going right, and they can lift players."
The frustration for the home fans grew in the second half when referee Tim Robinson only booked Fulham defender Dan Burn for bringing down Conor Washington, with the QPR striker racing towards goal.
Fulham manager Jokanovic, a former team-mate of Hasselbaink's at Chelsea, was delighted with what he saw.
He said: "It's good for our confidence and for my players to believe they can start to play really good football like a good football team."
Of strikers Dembele and McCormack, both of whom scored after being linked with moves to the Premier League in January, Jokanovic said: "They are our key players and are really important for us, but we need to find the balance, and get more solid to be a better team than we are now."
QPR did at least have something to celebrate late on, when substitute Tjaronn Chery scored from a corner in the 90th-minute.
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