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Queens Park Rangers vs Wigan Athletic. Sky Bet Championship.

Loftus Road StadiumAttendance17,061.

Queens Park Rangers 2

  • C Austin (73rd minute pen, 96th minute)

Wigan Athletic 1

  • J Perch (9th minute)

2-1

Sky Bet Championship: QPR not set up to draw at Wigan, says Harry Redknapp

Harry Redknapp was quick to defend his tactics against Wigan, insisting that his QPR side were not set up to avoid defeat in the Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final first-leg.

Image: QPR boss says it will be very difficult to pick a winner after their first leg against wigan ended 0-0

Harry Redknapp was quick to defend his tactics against Wigan, insisting that his QPR side were not set up to avoid defeat in the Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final first-leg.

The visitors appeared intent to soak up the pressure in the first half as Wigan dominated possession, but could not find their way through a cohesive Rangers defence.Redknapp's men opened up a little more in the second half but failed to find the breakthrough, so will hope to make home advantage count in the second leg at Loftus Road on Monday.Speaking to Sky Sports 1, Redknapp appeared happy with the 0-0 draw, lauding Wigan's attacking prowess."I'd take a draw for sure.

It was two evenly balanced teams really, and it's all to play for still."You wouldn't like to pick a favourite. They're a good side and they're always going to be dangerous."They'll come to our place and be dangerous, so it's all to play for."The 67-year-old was quick to defend his tactics, insisting that he had not played for a draw and had fielded an array of attacking talent that was enough to win the game."I picked an attacking team. I played with two out-and-out wingers, a striker, Ravel Morrison. Most people, certainly the lads I've spoken to, felt maybe we should be more defensive away from home in the first leg."We had to defend, we all did our jobs.

It certainly wasn't a defensive-minded team, it was an attacking one."Kevin (Doyle) can grab a goal and he works hard. He's a great pro and put in a great shift."Niko Kranjcar came on and he's a fantastic little footballer, and I gave Ravel a breather for the last 15 minutes or so."I didn't bring players on to shore it up, they were players who I thought could come on and maybe do something for us."Morrison was replaced by Kranjcar as the game wore on after the West Ham loanee struggled to make an impact, though Redknapp understood the youngster's frustration and instead hoped that it would motivate him for the second leg.

"He looked disappointed that he was coming off. You've got to be disappointed if you get subbed, but it's a team game and he knows that."He's been as good as gold since he's been with us."I was bringing Niko Kranjcar on who's got 80 caps for Croatia, he's not exactly the worst player in the world, so it's not an insult!"Asked how he sees the second leg playing out, Redknapp reiterated his belief that the tie was evenly poised."Even, even. We played them the other week at our place and they were very good. We won 1-0 but it was a very close game."It's difficult to pick a winner."

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