Rangers go for a Burton in the League Cup...

Burton Albion 1-0 QPR

QPR's dismal cup tradition continued last night, this time at the hands of League 2, Burton Albion as the euphoria of last season and Wembley is fading fast...

Again, due to various reasons, it was just myself and Jenson that decided to brave this one, hoping we wouldn't end up regretting it and see the R's record their first win and goals of the season. And it all started well enough as a trouble free journey saw us in Burton at 6pm. We decided to have something to eat and drink at the local Frankie and Bennys for a bit of 'bromance' and extremely nice it was too, but would we have room for a pie afterwards?? We certainly didn't feel like it on arrival at the Pirelli Stadium and little did we know at the time, that the dinner would be the highlight of the evening...

As you would expect, their were 10 changes to the team that were walloped at Spurs on Sunday but the biggest surprise of all is that it included Adel Taarabt, who hadn't started for Rangers in 16 months. Also included was SWP, which in my opinion, meant we were effectively starting with 9 men. SWP doesn't appear to be in Redknapp's plans and is no doubt picking up a very nice wage sitting on the sidelines and as for Adel, well, he wants to go. As much as I like Taarabt and what he has done for us, he doesn't want to play for QPR so he shouldn't play, in my opinion. Also, I heard an interview on Talksport with Harry last Friday who said, he is NOT fit and doesn't want to train, so why is he playing? And why have we gone into a cup tie with not one recognised striker in the starting line up?

In fairness, Taarabt didn't have a bad first half and was unlucky not to score, but dragged his effort just wide. Hoilett also hit the bar before the break but their were plenty of chances at the other end that kept the Rangers fans extremely worried.

The 2nd half was to be honest, an absolute snooze fest but if any side was to make the breakthrough, it would be Burton who were making all the running -  and the goal duly came on 77 minutes, when the extremely lively Harness was taken down by Richard Dunne as he skipped towards goal.

As McGurk placed the ball down for the free kick, their was a huge air of inevitability about what would happen next and he didn't disappoint, curling home a delightful free kick.

Queens Park Rangers

• 21 Murphy
• 02 Simpson Booked
• 22 Dunne Booked
• 15 Onuoha
• 06 Hill
• 20 Henry (Mutch - 81' )
• 18 Faurlin (Fer - 59' )
• 11 Wright-Phillips (Zamora - 78' )
• 23 Hoilett
• 07 Phillips
• 27 Taarabt

Substitutes

• 01 Green
• 10 Fer
• 17 Mutch
• 25 Zamora
• 28 Ehmer
• 36 Doughty
• 37 Harriman

Man of the Match

For an almost faultless performance - Brian Murphy

Apologies at this point, but after queuing at half time for a pie, they had sold out which was a shame, as pies in the North are normally quite good and they were also of the Pukka range.

On 88 minutes, myself and Jenson decided we had seen enough and made our way from the ground and onto the motorway, very easily for another easy journey.

It's fair to say that the QPR fans in the social media had gone into meltdown and you can understand it to a degree. In my opinion, the above line up on paper looked strong enough, with respect to beat Burton, but as said, to not even start with a recognised striker and try and play a 4-4-2 formation?

But, credit to Burton Albion who thoroughly deserved their victory and Good Luck in the next round versus Brighton.

And to end with two positives, the Frankie and Bennys was indeed, VERY good and the second is that the game didn't go into extra time and penalties..

After reporting now on 2 awful defeats, Lee will hopefully bring you some nicer news as he reviews Sunderland at home on Saturday..

Keep the Faith and Come on you R'sssssssssssss!!