Academy Manager Rich Stevens reflect's on the Under-23s defeat against QPR at Loftus Road...
Academy Manager Rich Stevens believes an indifferent second half display cost his side, as the Under-23s were defeated against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.
Jordan Ponticelli and Kyle Spence had given the Development side an early 2-0 lead, before QPR scored three without reply to earn the three points.
Stevens was disappointed his side couldn’t take advantage of positive start, in which the Sky Blues controlled proceedings. He said: “We were excellent for the first twenty minutes and deserved to be in the lead.
“I think we had chances to score a few more, but we lost a little bit of concentration and they got tighter to us and we couldn’t keep hold of the ball and didn’t keep it simple.
“We gave them the belief that they could get back into the game. Once we stopped passing it we gave them a route back into the game and they punished us for that.”
Despite the positives from certain aspects of the game, Stevens admitted his side needed to learn from their mistakes moving forward after an unacceptable second half display.
“We were really poor in the second 45, we could just never get going. Once you let the other side get a bit of momentum, it is hard to turn the game around.
“The goals we conceded were quite poor, if you keep presenting them with chances they will take them eventually, which was a disappointment for us,”
He added: “First half we played really well and should have scored more goals, but a lack of concentration and confidence in keeping it simple in the second 45 ultimately lost us the game today.”