R’S GAFFER Mark Hughes bemoaned the performance of the match officials, as Rangers succumbed to a 2-1 defeat against Spurs at White Hart Lane.
The R’s totally orchestrated proceedings during the first half and were deserved a goal up at the break thanks to Bobby Zamora’s 34th minute goal.
But Spurs hit back after the break, with an Alejandro Faurlin own goal handing the hosts an equaliser they hardly deserved.
Moments later, Andre Villas-Boas’s men were 2-1 up, as Jermain Defoe fired home from close range, but only after both Esteban Granero and Nedum Onuoha were fouled in the build-up to the goal.
A dejected Hughes told www.qpr.co.uk: “We’re scratching our heads somewhat as to how we didn’t get something out of the game.
“I thought our performance from start to finish was excellent.
“We were outstanding in the first half and totally dominated.
“Brad (Friedel) kept them in it during the first half, because we could have been out of sight.
“We took the game to them and were exceptional value for the 1-0 lead at the break.”
Hughes added: “They had to change things around at half-time and changed their shape.
“We gave them a little bit of a helping hand with the own goal, but we’re very disappointed with the referee in regard to the second goal.
“There was an initial foul on Esteban and then another on Nedum as he was trying to recover the situation.
“We were disappointed with the performance of the referee on that occasion as well as many others throughout the match.”
Despite the defeat, Hughes was encouraged with his sides showing against the Lilywhites, adding: “Our performance was at the level it needs to be at in the Premier League.
“The standard we produced last week in the draw against Chelsea was very impressive, but I thought we took it up another level today, which is why we’re all desperately disappointed not to get anything from the game.”
Jose Bosingwa limped off inside three minutes with a hamstring strain and Hughes revealed both Julio Cesar and Ryan Nelsen only just made his starting XI owing to injury and illness respectively.
“We’re really depleted at the moment,” he said.
“Even before the game Ryan was suffering from an ear infection and a little bit of vertigo. I’m not quite sure how he got through the game to be honest, because he was laid up in a hotel room for the last two days.
“Julio hasn’t trained for the last few days with a back spasm and then we lost Jose inside three minutes, so you have to wonder how bad your luck is.
“Jose’s looks like either a grade one or grade two hamstring injury, so we’ll wait for the results of the scan and see where we are with him in the next 48 hours or so.”