Chris Powell called Queens Park Rangers’ win over his Huddersfield Town side “daylight robbery”.
Dutch midfielder Tjaronn Chery’s 84th-minute goal against the run of play hoisted the London side up to fourth in the Championship and left Powell’s team third from bottom and still seeking a first victory of the season after five league games and a Capital One Cup tie.
“To lose like we did is a real blow to myself, the players and the fans,” admitted the manager, who gave a debut from the bench to new loan winger Mustapha Carayol.
“It won’t have done anything for confidence, but we have to stay together and stay composed.
“Looking on the balance of the game, it’s 0-0 at the worst from our point of view.
“It looked like is anyone was going to nick it, it would be us.
“It was daylight robbery really. Joe Murphy only had one save to make, then we got done at the end.
“We defended well for the most part and kept Charlie Austin quiet. We kept them all quiet really.
“What we have to do is get our end product better.”
The game was watched by a tickets-issued crowd of 11,189, including 836 QPR fans.
Powell’s approaching the first anniversary as boss, defended himself claims by a section of the Town support that he is too defensive in his approach.
“We wanted to win, and we put two up front to be positive and try to be on the front foot,” he argued.
“There was an enforced change at half-time because Mark Hudson was struggling with a knock (Martin Cranie came on).
“We knew we would only get 60 to 70 minutes out of Sean Scannell, who is clearly not right up to speed yet (after a hamstring problem), so Joe Lolley came on.
“Then we brought Muzzy on (for Nahki Wells), and we were looking to try to do something.
“They are a buoyant side, but we looked the brighter team.
“But we aren’t making the most of our chances.”
Powell was pleased with the cameo performance of Middlesbrough man Carayol.
“One run showed that if we can get the ball in the right areas for him, he will be a danger,” he said.
“We need to get him up to speed, and while he has trained consistently, players gets better with games.”
QPR manager Chris Ramsey said: “It’s an away win against a very difficult opponent and we kept ourselves in the game.
“We were mindful not to lose but we are always dangerous with the firepower we have up front.
“We didn’t play particularly well and this is a hard, unforgiving league.
“Chery did us a favour and long may it continue.”
Town Under 21s lost 2-0 in their Professional Development League II clash with Nottingham Forest at PPG Canalside. Forward James Thorne scored twice for the Midlands side.
