Warnock not focused on Taarabt

03 October 2011 08:05

QPR manager Neil Warnock refused to comment on reports that Adel Taarabt stormed off after being replaced at half-time of their resounding 6-0 defeat at west London rivals Fulham.

Andrew Johnson's hat-trick spurred the Cottagers to their first Barclays Premier League victory of the season and Warnock's miserable afternoon was compounded further by suggestions that playmaker Taarabt stormed out of Craven Cottage after being substituted.

Asked about the situation, he said: "That's not my problem at the moment. I have no idea (whether he left the dressing room). I've more worries than any individual when you lose 6-0. I don't think you can blame Adel Taarabt today."

He added: "We conceded six goals. You've got to look at that. If I'm honest, if we had Darren Bent playing for us today, and a few England players, we'd have still been beaten 6-0.

"I don't think you can get carried away too much. You get days when Adel comes off. You're going to get days when he throws his toys out the pram, but that isn't a worry for me. If I sub somebody and they are happy, then I have more of a problem with that."

While the Hoops endured a difficult day against their near neighbours, Fulham manager Martin Jol was delighted with his team's performance.

"We took the initiative," he said. "Sometimes you need to let them play to get more space for our four attacking players and we did well in that respect.

"We played 4-4-2 today with two wide players who could come in. That caused them a problem with the full-backs overlapping as well, especially John Arne Riise.

"But don't forget that we've done that before. It's not the first time - I've been here for four months.

"The only thing we did differently was Moussa Dembele played instead of Damien Duff and he's a very gifted player."

Source: PA