Hoilett: QPR deserved more

22 October 2012 15:52

Goalscorer Junior Hoilett feels QPR were unlucky not to pick up their first Premier League win of the season against Everton on Sunday.

Everton were reduced to 10 men when Steven Pienaar was dismissed just after the hour mark but managed to survive to take a point from Loftus Road.

Hoilett had opened the scoring after just two minutes but QPR were pegged back by an unfortunate Julio Cesar own goal. Former Blackburn man Hoilett believes Mark Hughes' side performed well enough to record their elusive maiden league win of the campaign.

"I thought we played well for the duration of the match and were very unlucky not to get the three points that we're craving right now," he told the club's website.

"We were relatively happy with a point against a very good Everton side, but I felt on the night we deserved more.

"We'll keep working hard to get more points on the board and we showed again against Everton what we are capable of when we click into gear."

The 22-year-old felt that Pienaar's red card made the task of scoring a winner harder for the R's as Everton settled for a draw.

He said: "It was tough for us when they went down to 10 men because they got two banks of four across the middle and made it very difficult for us to break them down.

"We created a few decent chances though and on another day we might have got maximum points, but all in all we've got another point on the board and we'll keep working hard for that first victory and then push on up the table."

Hoilett, who came close to winning the game late on when he forced a smart save out of Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard, reckons he should have had a penalty when he was caught by Seamus Coleman inside the Everton box as the game entered the final 10 minutes.

"I managed to steal the ball and get in front of Coleman. I got caught and that's why I went to ground," he said.

"Everyone in the dressing room afterwards was convinced it was a stonewall penalty, so it's difficult to take."

USA international Howard praised the defensive qualities shown by the Toffees once Pienaar had been shown his second yellow card and was happy with a point.

"I thought in the first half the defence was fantastic, they were really strong and powerful in the air. In the second half we had to be, it was backs to the wall stuff," he told the club's official website. "At the point of the sending off we would have taken the draw - we had to dig in and the early goal hurt. It was preventable but in the end I thought we played well and it felt like a good point.

"No matter how confident we are going forward, I don't think we can ever lose that 'roll up your sleeves and fight for the team' spirit that we are known for. "If you get away from that then the rest of it doesn't matter."

Source: team_talk