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QPR boss Mark Warburton on warpath as he defends tinkering after EFL Cup exit
QPR boss Mark Warburton defended his decision to field a weakened line-up after his side were dumped out of the EFL Cup by League One Portsmouth on Wednesday.
Warburton made seven changes to the team that had beaten Wigan 3-1 at home in the Championship on Saturday, with the trio of goalscorers from that game, Eberechi Eze, Nahki Wells and Jordan Hugill among those rested.
Portsmouth, who had the benefit of having their league fixture with Rotherham postponed last weekend, fielded a near-full strength side, and were rewarded with a 2-0 win thanks to late goals from John Marquis and Marcus Harness.
Warburton has now used 22 players already this season but insists it's unfair to criticise his rotation policy.
“We made eight [changes in the previous round] and won, we made six at the weekend and won,” Warburton said. “I’m a bit bemused when I hear about Watford making 11 [against Coventry on Tuesday], other teams making ten.
“You’ve got a squad of players – so when do they play? When do these players play? If you don’t think they’re good enough, don’t have them in your squad.
“If they don’t play, then when they do come on people say, ‘Oh, he lacked match sharpness’. Well he hasn’t played for six weeks.
“That’s why you want to be in these competitions – a) to get to Wembley and try win it but b) is to give all your players valuable pitch time because you can’t replicate pitch time.”
QPR had the better of a drab opening 45 minutes, and came close to opening the scoring with what would have been a goal of the round contender, had Bright Osayi-Samuel managed to turn Ilias Chair’s cross home at the end of a flowing move.
#Pompey will host @SouthamptonFC in Round 3 of the @Carabao_Cup pic.twitter.com/xXwUDdEmPe
— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey)
Marc Pugh missed a glorious chance with a header from close range shortly after the break, but Portsmouth took the lead in the 77th minute when Marquis was clumsily brought down inside the area by Toni Leistner, before dusting himself off to convert from twelve yards.
With the Rs defence AWOL, Harness stroked home from close range just four minutes later to send Portsmouth through and set up a South Coast derby against Southampton in round three, and Warburton admitted the visitors’ triumph was far from smash-and-grab.
“We were not good enough, overall, simple as that,” he said. “We didn’t deserve to go through tonight. The first 20 or 25 minutes we were very comfortable, probably too comfortable.
“We looked very good, and then, in truth, we got complacent and sloppy and a team like Portsmouth will hurt you. They grew into the game, by half-time they were back in it.
“Second half, though we flattered to deceive with some possession stats, it was irrelevant, we never really troubled them.”
