QPR 0 Norwich 0
QPR’s battle for Barclays Premier League survival suffered another setback this afternoon with confirmation striker Loic Remy had suffered a groin injury in training, manager Harry Redknapp revealed after the goalless draw with Norwich.
Remy only joined the Hoops earlier this month in an £8m move from Marseille and scored on his debut against West Ham, but now appears set for a spell on the sidelines.
“He tore a groin muscle yesterday in training. I have no idea at the moment how long he will be out,” said Redknapp.
“It was in the last minute of training, and he just struck a ball, felt it go. We will have to see how he is tomorrow and Monday, then take it from there.”
QPR moved to clarify Remy had suffered a groin strain, rather than a tear, which could see the striker back in action within weeks instead of a potentially season-ending injury.
Norwich manager Chris Hughton, meanwhile, confirmed winger Anthony Pilkington will be withdrawn from the Republic of Ireland’s friendly with Poland in Dublin on Wednesday due to the hamstring injury which forced him off in the first half.
Despite plenty of endeavour, QPR were unable to get the breakthrough which Redknapp felt would have seen them go on to win the match today.
The key moment came just before the hour when QPR were awarded a penalty for a trip by Norwich keeper Mark Bunn on Jamie Mackie.
However, Adel Taarabt, who had been Rangers’ most creative player, saw his spot-kick well saved by Bunn.
Both keepers produced a string of fine stops, with Julio Cesar also doing well to deny Wes Hoolahan from close range and tipping behind a 25-yard curling effort from Robert Snodgrass.
QPR’s deadline day signings defender Christopher Samba, bought in a £12.5m deal from Anzhi Makhachkala, and midfielder Andros Townsend, on loan from Tottenham, had both started, while Jermaine Jenas came off the bench in the second half.
Redknapp said: “I felt if we had scored the penalty, we would have gone on and won the game.
“Of course we need wins, but we could not have tried any harder – we gave everything we had. I felt when Bobby Zamora came on, he made a difference for us, but he cannot play for 90 minutes because of an operation on his hip.
“Once he stops, it just clamps up on him. Getting him through half a game is a miracle. If I had him fit, it would be a different team.”
Redknapp remains positive for the challenges ahead.
“We just have to keep going,” he said.
Norwich sent on their new man Luciano Becchio for the closing stages and with five minutes of stoppage time – during which the former Leeds striker looked to have been bundled over by Clint Hill in the six-yard box at a corner, but referee Jon Moss thought otherwise.
Canaries boss Hughton had been forced into an early change after 24 minutes when Pilkington hobbled off.
The winger had just received his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland squad, but was now set to miss out.
Hughton said: “Pilkington has a hamstring injury. We will assess how bad it is, but at the moment certainly we will be pulling him out of the Irish squad.”
Norwich have still not won in the Premier League since December 15.
Hughton, though, feels forward progress is being made.
“Every point away from home in this division is a good point, especially against a team in form,” Hughton said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, but I thought a draw was a fair result.
“We are a hard-working team who were always going to have a tough season, so it is all about assessing the games and coming good again.
“At the moment, although we are not picking up three points, we have played out two good draws and the gap between us and the bottom three is very important.”