We stood up to the balls in the box

Both managers had strong words for their teams at half time but it was Burnley who came out the strongert leaving Lewington with some harsh words after they suffered their second defeat of the season.

“I’m fed up, and I’m sure the fans are,” said Lewington. “It was a poor performance, not getting away from it. It was a dour game which Burnley won because we didn’t cause them enough problems.

“One shot of note on target won’t do at any level and our players were guilty today of not following the game-plan, just doing their own thing by tearing up the script.

“We weren’t bright enough to break Burnley down, we didn’t get into their final third often enough, not enough crosses and nowhere near enough shots. Players looked as if they were playing badly because they weren’t putting the grey matter to use often enough.

“What I’m saying is that you didn’t see too many misplaced passes or balls mis-controlled, it was more a case of making the wrong pass or wrong decision in key areas of the field.”

Asked if he thought the players would be unable to repeat the quality of performance shown against QPR five days earlier he added, “No, not really but that is what happened today. We’re extremely disappointed and, no doubt, the fans were disappointed with what they saw.

“I don’t want to use the heat as an excuse. Yes, it was hot but it was warm on Monday night and we did the right things so much more often. Just as I didn’t get carried away on Monday so I’m not going to let this disappointment get to myself and the players too much. I want it to hurt them but let’s not get too bogged down in the rights and wrongs.

“It is a long season and I’m very confident that we will produce more QPRs than Burnleys throughout the 46 games”.

After being disappointed with the first half Steve Cotterill was a happy man after seeing his players get him that first league win.

“We could have scored a few goals in the second half,” he said after the game. “There were a few a good saves and one off the line, but we got the one goal that counted and defended very well.

“They are a difficult team to play against, especially on the back of a 3-0 home win earlier in the week. We knew it would be tough and they are a hard working side, but we stood up to the balls in the box and I think we deserved it.”

Looking at the first week of the season he added, “I’m happy with the start we have made and I would have settled for five points after three games, and we have had three hard games too.

“We need to keep on working hard and trying to build on it, because that is all it is, a good start”.