'Only human' - QPR boss defends 4/10 star for unconvincing Millwall display

QPR head coach Marti Cifuentes has stuck by midfielder Lucas Andersen after a somewhat underwhelming showing against Millwall on Saturday afternoon.

The two Championship clubs shared a point at Loftus Road in a close-fought affair, with Neil Harris believing that his Lions side were unlucky not to take all three points away from their London rivals. Duncan Watmore opened the scoring for Millwall before Michael Frey responded with his third league goal of the campaign.

Andersen, who joined QPR after having his contract mutually terminated at AaB in February, has become an important player for the side. The playmaker is often the metronome in midfield with his creativity vital in making goal scoring chances.

However, the 30-year-old was guilty of a few wrong decisions against Millwall on Saturday, misplacing passes and blasting over the goal when teammates were in better positions. Andersen was given a 4/10 rating by LondonWorld for his showing on the day.

At one moment in the second half, the player led a dangerous counter attack but was pedestrian on the ball and saw possession lost - bringing about a chorus of groans from Loftus Road.

Asked to evaluate the player's performance after the match, Cifuentes defended Andersen, playing down any claims of a bad afternoon out. He said: "He did some very good things and some others that are perhaps easy to catch the eye, bad control or bad running and losing momentum. Lucas is important for us and I am sure he will regain the level that he showed last season when he was brilliant last season for us.

"It shows that players are human beings as well and sometimes that have good periods and not as good. It's my job to try and help and challenge."

Cifuentes was also candid in admitting that he was disappointed in his side's overall showing, despite picking up a point in the match.

He explained: "I'm not happy about the way we played, we could have played much better. We spoke in the week, in the few days we had, about how important the build-up play would be.

"Millwall usually play in a very narrow 4-4-2, very compact. We talked about building long sequences, something we have missed a bit this season. Sometimes you need to be more patient in football. Today we were a little bit confused about this."