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Djibril Cisse will be vital for QPR this season, claims Mark Hughes
The QPR boss was pleased with a point against Aston Villa, despite seeing his side squander a two-goal lead
1 Feb 2012 23:20:00
By James McManus
Mark Hughes remained upbeat despite seeing his side throw away a two-goal lead in their Premier League clash against Aston Villa, and claimed Djibril Cisse will be vital in QPR's survival bid this season.
Cisse, who arrived on transfer deadline day from Italian side Lazio, managed to put his new side ahead in the 12th minute with a powerful strike, and Hughes believes the Frenchman will be a pivotal part in QPR's relegation scrap.
"I thought he was excellent, I think everybody understands why I wanted to bring him to the club," Hughes said.
"I thought he was bright, he was intelligent in his running and showed the power and pace we all know that he has and a good finish as well.
"He’s going to be vital for us because that’s something that we’ve not had at the football club before in terms of his quality and his power and his technical ability so it’s going to benefit us from now until the end of the season."
Hughes also handed debuts to Taye Taiwo and Nedum Onuoha, who both signed in January, but despite QPR going ahead through Cisse and a Stephen Warnock own goal, strikes from Darren Bent and Charles N'Zogbia secured a point for Aston Villa.
"I thought it was important that we needed to get them [Taiwo and Onuoha] involved quickly, get them up to speed. Obviously they haven’t had a great deal of football in recent times," Hughes said.
“Certainly towards the end of it they were flagging a bit along with a number of others but they’ll be better for that exertion that they put in tonight.
“We’ve done very well in the window and we’re delighted with the business we’ve done. We welcome back Adel [Taarabt] and [Armand] Traore tomorrow so we’ll be in good shape for the weekend."
QPR sit three points above the relegation zone following the draw and despite squandering a two-goal lead, Hughes claims the point was acceptable.
"I thought we played very well, but I think it was important for Villa that they got the goal just before half-time," Hughes told Sky Sports.
"In the first half we were good value for the lead. Villa are a good side, when they've got the likes of Keane popping up in those spaces, it can be difficult, but we stuck at it and got something out of the game.
"If before the game you'd have said we'd get a point, we would have been happy with that. It's a good point for us."
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Cisse, who arrived on transfer deadline day from Italian side Lazio, managed to put his new side ahead in the 12th minute with a powerful strike, and Hughes believes the Frenchman will be a pivotal part in QPR's relegation scrap.
"I thought he was excellent, I think everybody understands why I wanted to bring him to the club," Hughes said.
"I thought he was bright, he was intelligent in his running and showed the power and pace we all know that he has and a good finish as well.
"He’s going to be vital for us because that’s something that we’ve not had at the football club before in terms of his quality and his power and his technical ability so it’s going to benefit us from now until the end of the season."
Hughes also handed debuts to Taye Taiwo and Nedum Onuoha, who both signed in January, but despite QPR going ahead through Cisse and a Stephen Warnock own goal, strikes from Darren Bent and Charles N'Zogbia secured a point for Aston Villa.
"I thought it was important that we needed to get them [Taiwo and Onuoha] involved quickly, get them up to speed. Obviously they haven’t had a great deal of football in recent times," Hughes said.
“Certainly towards the end of it they were flagging a bit along with a number of others but they’ll be better for that exertion that they put in tonight.
“We’ve done very well in the window and we’re delighted with the business we’ve done. We welcome back Adel [Taarabt] and [Armand] Traore tomorrow so we’ll be in good shape for the weekend."
QPR sit three points above the relegation zone following the draw and despite squandering a two-goal lead, Hughes claims the point was acceptable.
"I thought we played very well, but I think it was important for Villa that they got the goal just before half-time," Hughes told Sky Sports.
"In the first half we were good value for the lead. Villa are a good side, when they've got the likes of Keane popping up in those spaces, it can be difficult, but we stuck at it and got something out of the game.
"If before the game you'd have said we'd get a point, we would have been happy with that. It's a good point for us."
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| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets! |
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| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
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| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
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Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.
Hosted by Joe Doyle
Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:59 BST
Unfortunately for Northern Ireland, they are trailing the Netherlands 4-0 at half-time. Looks like that one's all sewn up then.
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
Inside Goal.Com
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