Mark Warburton reacts to Andre Gray’s moment of magic for QPR in Derby County win | OneFootball

Mark Warburton has heaped his praise onto QPR striker Andre Gray, following the 30-year-old’s moment of magic to win yesterday’s clash at Derby County.

The Watford loanee was brought onto the pitch with 15 minutes to go, netting a stunning volley out of Kelle Roos’ reach in the 89th minute.

Gray has been restricted to just four starts since making the move from the Premier League club in the summer, adding a further six appearances from the bench.

The Jamaican international has netted four times in the process and will be giving Warburton a selection in headache over the next few weeks.

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Speaking to the Brent & Kilburn Times, Warburton spoke about the match-winning striker: “I know Andre so well, we signed him a long time ago at Brentford, I know him inside out and he was phoning me at home to say I’m ready.

“The medical team have got to look after the players, don’t forget he’s a loan player so we have a responsibility to him and to his parent club but the dialogue was good, he was ready for 15-20 minutes and trained well yesterday.

“You saw a performance tonight, it was a fantastic finish by him and he’s got that in his locker. He’ll frustrate you sometimes, he won’t mind me saying he’ll hit Row X sometimes but then he’ll turn round and hit that quality.”

The verdict

When Gray is in form he can be unplayable at this level of football and create moments of magic like he did yesterday evening.

He will be hoping to accumulate more starts during this loan spell with the R’s and his performance when he came on suggested that a few more starts would be justified.

There are excellent levels of competition within the QPR squad at present, which could be a key factor as to why they are constantly improving.

The R’s are now into third place, and whilst the automatic positions are seven points away, they will have every bit of confidence that they can go on and achieve greatness this season.