'We were not ready' - QPR boss Gareth Ainsworth makes relegation admission after heavy Watford loss
- Planet Sport writer
- 5 August 2023
Queens Park Rangers endured a heavy defeat in their first match of the new Championship season.
QPR boss Gareth Ainsworth admitted he has his work cut out to keep the club in the Championship with little money available to him to spend due to Financial Fair Play regulations.
Rangers were beaten 4-0 by Watford in their first Championship match of the season, with all the goals coming in a scintillating first-half display that saw the Hornets take the lead after just 33 seconds through Tom Dele-Bashiru.
The impressive Imran Louza, Matthias Martins and Vakoun Bayo also profited from some dismal defending from the shell-shocked visitors to find the net in a scoreline that could have been much more emphatic.
Without first-choice centre-backs Jake Clarke-Salter and Jimmy Dunne due to injury, debutants Joe Gubbins and Morgan Fox struggled to contain the Hornets.
However, Ainsworth insists he will keep the club up.
"I am not happy, we were behind after the first minute and sometimes you have to hold hands up and say you weren't good enough," he said.
"We were not ready for that first half from Watford and we were torn apart at times.
"I thought we looked a lot better in the second half but on the day Watford were much better than us.
"We win and lose as a team, there is no finger pointing from me, it is down to me as the manager to put it right.
"We are favourites for the bottom of the league, but we will be better than we were last season where we scrapped it to stay up."
