Martin Rowlands returned to action with half an hour of reserve team action at Harlington this afternoon. The second string were beaten 5-0 by West Ham.
Rowlands ha not featured for Rangers since rupturing his knee ligament while playing for the Republic of Ireland last autumn. It was the second time he had suffered the injury in 2009 and has restricted him to just nine appearances in the last 20 months.
Rowlands came on for the final half hour of a behind closed doors reserve game today against West Ham. He wasn’t able to prevent Rangers, who left transfer listed duo Patrick Agyemang and Alessandro Pellicori on the bench but did start with Gary Borrowdale, from slipping to a bad 5-0 defeat but reserve manager Ronnie Jepson said afterwards that it was fantastic to see the 31-year-old back in action.
Jepson told the official website: “It was a big plus to see Martin out there. That's what these games are for, for players like Martin and for the younger lads to gain experience. He is a strong character and he showed that today. Obviously, having been out for so long, he's going to be a little rusty but he's a really good professional and I am sure he will be feeling a lot better with himself after being involved today and coming through unscathed. These games are massive for people like Martin. It helps them get their confidence and their fitness back. You can do all the rehab in the world, but nothing prepares you for a return better than actually playing matches.
"We were a bit miss-and-match. We had a couple of trialists out there who we had a look at, and we made a couple of changes which allowed us to get Rowly and Patrick Agyemang on. It wasn't all about the result. It was about looking at one or two people, and getting the likes of Rowly out there. It was hugely beneficial to us."
Olly Lee (two), Frank Nouble, Anthony Edgar and Cristian Montano were on target for the Hammers.
Neil Warnock spoke after the weekend victory against Scunthorpe about how much he is looking forward to having the club captain back, describing him as like a new signing for the team. He said: “Martin is excited at the moment - he's absolutely busting a gut in training. It will feel like a fantastic signing when he's back - I couldn't buy anyone better than him."
The manager, who has never been able to call on Rowlands since taking over, has also spoken recently of a need for Rowlands to change his combative style of play in order to prolong a career that has been beset by bad injuries.
QPR Reserves: Niki-Lee Bulmer, Max Ehmer, Gary Borrowdale, Joe Oastler, Lee Brown, Danny Fitzsimmons, Romone Rose, Jordan Hibbert, Josh Parker, Trialist, Trialist.
Subs: Alessandro Pellicori, Martin Rowlands, Patrick Agyemang, Michael Doughty, Michael Harriman, Elliott Cox, Elvijs Putnins.
Elsewhere today centre half Kaspars Gorkss has been called up by Latvia ahead of their European Championship qualifying matches against Croatia and Malta on September 3 and 7. Unlike his last trip away Gorkss will not miss any QPR action a this is a designated international weekend. The big centre half was fortunate to get away with a second half slip against Scunthorpe on Saturday – Paddy Kenny saved one on one from Jonathan Forte – but has otherwise been in fine form in a defence that is yet to concede a goal in three league games.
Finally, predictably, QPR’s midweek game against Millwall on Tuesday,September 28, has been made all ticket for both home and away fan.
Time continues to tick in the summer transfer window, and QPR continue to be linked with strikers. Yesterday LFW reported that the R’s were being linked with a loan move for Stoke’s Dave Kitson, today that move is being reported as a potential permanent transfer for a fee in the region of £2m. Kitson has endured a torrid time at Stoke since a £5.5m move from Reading two years ago – scoring just five goals in 40 appearances and spending this summer training with the youth team after failed loan spells at Reading and Middlesbrough last season. Stoke may have to rethink their decision to offload Kitson however after former QPR trialist Mamady Sidibe was ruled out for the entire season with a knee injury suffered as a late substitute against Tottenham at the weekend.
Elsewhere move that was originally set up as a permanent one may now take place on loan. QPR baulked at Blackburn forward Jason Roberts’ £30k a week wage demands when Rovers told him he could leave Ewood Park a fortnight ago, but have returned to try and take him on loan. According to the Fulham Chronicle the temporary transfer hinges on how much of Roberts’ weekly wage Rovers will pay while he is at QPR. Rangers are only willing to pay £10k a week.
Former QPR youth team product Marcus Bean was the hero for our near neighbours Brentford on Tuesday night. Bean, who has made a great impact at Griffin Park since joining from Blackpool, scored two minutes from time against Championship side Hull City to take the Bees through to the third round of the League Cup.
- The League Cup continues to be an unhappy hunting ground for Championship sides. Another eight fell tonight, after eight lost in the first round, four of them to lower league sides. Watford’s home defeat by Notts County, Hull’s late defeat at Brentford and Cardiff’s 2-1 set back at Peterborough were the upsets. Leeds and Middlesbrough lost to Leicester and Millwall, Norwich lost at Blackburn and Palace were beaten on penalties at Portsmouth. Reading lost on penalties against our old foes Northampton. The other survivors from our league were Preston, Burnley, Swansea and Ipswich, although two of them needed extra time to do it.
- Despite losing Michael Chopra to a foot injury Cardiff have accepted an offer from Leeds for striker Ross McCormack. The 24-year-old has been moved down the pecking order despite scoring 33 goals in 88 appearances for the Bluebirds by the arrival of Craig Bellamy.
- The FA has fined Nottingham Forest and Leeds for failing to control their players after a fiery match between the two sides last weekend. Both sets of players clashed after Chris Gunter appeared to stamp on Sanchez Watt – an offence for which he has been retrospectively banned for three matches. Forest were fined £12,500, Leeds, £7,000.