With the squad already riddled with injuries in the striking department Waddo’s hand was forced somewhat. Paul Jones was in goal behind a back four of Bignot, Stewart, Rose and Milanese. Lomas surprisingly played the holding role in midfield behind skipper Ainsworth, Ward, Rowlands and Cook. Czerkas was charged with the task of leading the line on his own up front.  

It was clear from the start that Rangers had come to play Burnley rather than try and stifle them. Czerkas was seeing a lot of the ball early on and showed a solid first touch as he had the ball fed into him for the midfield runners to break onto. The big Pole shot wide early in the piece before he showed that he also has pace to get in behind. He seized on a searching through ball and only some good keeping from Brian Jensen forced him away from the danger area. 

Burnley hadn’t shown anything as yet and Paul Jones was virtually a spectator at the other end of the field as Rangers attacking midfield pairing of Ward and Rowlands began to probe for openings. Young Aussie Ward was showing some classy touches and movement from central areas and he should have done better when he was allowed a free header from an excellent corner from Rowlands. He had pulled into acres of space and whilst his header hit the target, the power wasn’t sufficient to worry Jensen unduly. 

Soon after he had showed that he liked to strike the ball from distance with a stinging effort that deflected off of Michael Duff and went for a corner. Martin Rowlands tested Jensen himself shortly after when he drilled a left footed shot that was deflected up into Jensen’s arms. 

Finally, with almost thirty minutes having elapsed the home side started to get into the game. They had watched Rangers dominate but now they managed to get a foothold and create some chances of their own. Big Ulsterman Kyle Lafferty headed Steve Jones right wing cross into the stand with what was their best chance of the half. 

At the other end Rangers came close to taking the lead when Ward found yet more space outside the box and lashed a thirty yard strike at goal. Jensen flew to his right to tip it round but in truth it was sneaking just wide of the upright anyway. Paul Jones then pulled off the save of the half to thwart Chris McCann, scorer of a belter at Loftus Road last season. 

The R’s players got a great ovation from the travelling support at the end of the half for what was an extremely encouraging display thus far. There must have been some stern words in the Burnley dressing room at half time though as they came out fired up and looked like a totally different side. 

Steve Cotterill was constantly throwing tantrums on the touchline in an effort to get his boys going and incurred the wrath of referee Clattenburg when he smashed a ball halfway across the pitch in a fit of pique. James O’Connor crashed a shot wide of Jones upright before, as happened so often last season, Rangers committed defensive hari-kari.

Stewart won a defensive header against the physical threat of Andy Gray and the ball fell straight to Bignot. He was surrounded by three Burnley players so should have just bashed it into the stand and been done with it, but he didn’t. His control let him down and The Clarets broke forward. The danger seemed to be over again though but Rose and Milanese left it to each other. Jones came sliding out to collect but somehow he let the ball slip from his grasp and it rolled straight to Steve Jones who has the easiest of tasks to steer the ball into the unguarded net. 

Rangers almost hit back immediately when Rowlands surged powerfully from midfield and as Czerkas made a great run to his right to open up space, he cracked a fierce right footer that Jensen saved brilliantly.  

Waddock sacrificed the defensive midfielder Lomas and threw on Giant Ray Jones and went to a standard 4-4-2. Rangers were starting to struggle now though and this was in large part to Rowlands and Ward beginning to run out of legs. This wasn’t much of a shock though, if Ward has played in a game as quick as this in his life I will be very surprised and this was Rowly’s first competitive game for seven months. 

The new formation hadn’t had a chance to click before Rangers found themselves two goals down with another giveaway. Jones bowled the ball to Milanese and he tried to knock it into the feet of Cook but the pass wasn’t accurate enough and Frank Sinclair was able to pick it off easily. He fed the ball into Steve Jones and he got it out of his feet before screaming it into the roof of the net.  

Czerkas went off with just under twenty minutes left having run himself into the ground and was replaced by Bircham. This meant that Ward went up front with Ray Jones but there wasn’t any service coming in from wide areas for them to use. Ainsworth and Cook had been anonymous all afternoon and with poor displays from Bignot and Milanese also the supply lines had virtually been severed. 

Chances seemed to be drying up for both sides and only two long range efforts from Burnley threatened to change the scoreline further. Firstly Alan Mahon curled a freekick goalward that was brilliantly saved by Jones. Clattenburg gave a goal kick which took the credit away from the Welsh stopper.  

Then three minutes from time he flew high to his right to turn away a blockbuster from Micah Hyde that may have been hitting the post anyway. The final whistle brought Rangers first defeat of the season but it also brought to an end a performance that was encouraging at times. 

The displays of Stewart, Ward, Rowlands and Czerkas are certainly positives but they were counterbalanced by poor showings from Bignot, Milanese, Ainsworth and Cook. Aside from his failure to hold the ball for the first goal Paul Jones was as solid as we expect him to be. It was a shame that we didn’t have any better striking options though as I think we may have got something from the game had we been able to commit another man up top for longer. 

Striking options are a bit thin so it may well be the case that when the Shittu money comes in that some of it is spent in forward areas rather than defensively. We need to get Gallen and Nygaard fit soon as its not on to expect a 22 year old to lead the line with back up from a 17 year old and an 18 year old for too long. 

As for Burnley, I think Cotterill has bought well this summer and whilst many of the “experts” think they will struggle I reckon they are going to be a decent side. Players like Alan Mahon, Steve Jones and Andy Gray will cause problems for a lot of sides and I think they will comfortably finish in the top half. 

We face Leeds now on Tuesday night and it is vital that we take a point at the minimum. A poor start will potentially bugger up the entire season and we cannot afford that given the end to the last one.  

Man of the Match - Martin Rowlands.
Rowly was all action in the middle of the park and he and Ward already seem to have an excellent understanding. He was forced off late on with what I hope was nothing more than cramp.

simon@qprnet.com