Bowen: Hughes had his moments

Stand-in boss QPR Mark Bowen launched a passionate defence of Mark Hughes' managerial reign following his side's 3-1 defeat at Manchester United.

Hughes was sacked on Friday morning and has already been replaced by Harry Redknapp. The new man was present at Old Trafford and will take training for the first time on Sunday, leaving Bowen facing an uncertain future.

However, the Welshman insists Hughes had improved Rangers, even though they remain at the foot of the Barclays Premier League with only four points, and he said: "People ask me what went wrong but when this club stayed up on the last day of last season, clubs like Southampton and Reading had a better squad than us."

He added: "They had players who had been together and had success together. At times we have been criticised for the number of players who have left. Not one player we have let go is anywhere near the Premier League now.

"We have brought good players into the club. I have seen it every day in training. Maybe at times a few of the lads have been found wanting."

Bowen denied reports Hughes had walked off the training ground on Friday, having been informed by chief executive Philip Beard he was going to be sacked no matter what the outcome of the match at Old Trafford.

"We were preparing for training and putting our ideas together about what we were going to do when Philip knocked on the door," he said. "No-one was called over. It was all handled with dignity."

Briefly, QPR threatened an amazing victory too, with Jamie Mackie putting them into the lead before Jonny Evans' equaliser and a goal apiece from Darren Fletcher and Javier Hernandez.

"We played for 10 or 15 minutes," said United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. "That was the sum total of our real performance from Manchester United.

"Of course it is frustrating we keep ending up in that position but when they scored it definitely sparked us up."