Bristol City 1 QPR 1 - Archive

Luke Freeman believes City's Lost Boys are close to finding their way in the Championship with the help of Peter Pan.

Midfielder Freeman, 23, helped craft City's late equaliser for 36 year old striker Aaron Wilbraham before praising his skipper. He said:

"In his head he still thinks he's Peter Pan, I'm sure he does. He's key though. 

"He brings everything. He's always bringing the boys together and making sure everyone's involved and he's probably one of the main reasons why the team is so close. He's the best captain I've played under and I think the majority of the lads would say that.

"He always has input at team meetings and tells us what's good for us and what's not. The boys listen because with us being younger boys and him having been there and done it, we know he's massively important for us."

And Freeman insists that there is no need for pixie dust at relegation threatened City after they learned valuable lessons in the first half of the season. He said:

"Apart from Charlton who we play next week, we've played every team and pretty much every game we've played - apart from one or two who you can see will go up - we've thought we were better than them or as good as them.

"A lot of us haven't had any Championship experience, so as younger players we're learning how to to manage games better."

Robins manager Steve Cotterill was delighted to see his team receive a standing ovation and said:

"The fans know how we're going to play and I think they enjoy that. We always take the positives from every game. Sometimes they're harder to find than others, but today I thought the boys were magnificent.

"I'm thrilled for Aaron Wilbraham because I think he gets through so much hard work."

Winger Junior Hoilett, 25, scored the opening goal for QPR and his form is impressing skipper Nedum Onuoha, 29, who said:

"I have played against him so many times in the past and he’s always made it very difficult for me, so to finally see him do well is great because I like to see good people doing well and long may that continue.

"He’s on form, playing week-in, week-out and he’s allowed to try things. When you’re given licence to try things that perhaps you wouldn’t have been previously, it fills you with confidence.

"What is there to worry about when that happens? It’s not like being a defender where you can’t try anything and you have to do the simple things over and over again. With Junior, if he wants to do 25 stepovers then he can try 25 stepovers, which is a good thing for him. 

"He could be key to getting us into the play-off places but as the manager will say, everything has to be done together because there is a massive team ethic and if you don’t work for the team you don’t get into the side."

New QPR boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink chalked up a third successive draw since he took over from Neil Warnock and was also pleased with Hoilett. He said: 

"He's getting back to where he needs to be. He's a confidence player who needs someone to believe in him and we certainly do. We definitely like him. He’s one who can create and score goals."

Leading marksman Charlie Austin missed the game with a hamstring "tweak" and is tipped to leave in January, but with or without him Rangers will need to add bodies if they are going to push for the play-offs. Hasselbaink said:

"You always want to strengthen, but I'm very happy with the squad that I have and I want to keep everyone here as much as possible."