Pearson: Back In The Hunt

Jamie Vardy’s stunning first half strike proved to be the difference in a 1-0 win, but it was the commitment from front-to-back that most pleased the boss, whose side now draw level at the summit with the R’s on 42 points.

The home side did lose Joey Barton to two bookings in the space of a few seconds with five minutes left, but it made little difference as City head into their Boxing Day clash with Reading in high spirits.

A happy Pearson told media after the match: “”We did well today and it was needed. From here (Loftus Road) three points is a good return because they’re a good side.

“We created good opportunities and they will feel they should have got something out of the game, but we’re delighted.

“I thought it was a good game today and both sides tried to win, which is always important. It puts us back in the hunt for the top spots.

“We’ve only scored one goal, but the key is keeping a clean sheet. We’ve not kept enough this season. But away at QPR for us to create the chances we did is great. The added bonus is that collectively we defended very well as they put us under pressure.

“We've felt at times this season we’ve not come out of those games with what we deserved and it’s nice to start the Christmas period with an important win.

“Throughout the course of a season you’re not going to have players in form all the time. In all honesty we have been punished severely for mistakes recently but that shows that our standards are high.

“I’ve never been too disappointed with the players’ work rate and how they go about trying to play, but today we showed a resilience collectively that we’ve not had often enough, and that’s good.

“We try to keep our standards of performance. If we do that then over the course of the season then we’ll win games. You won’t always get decisions going your way, but we have to try and keep a consistency with the performances.”