Austin hails victory over Aston Villa as "massive"

CHARLIE AUSTIN hailed QPR's 2-0 victory over Aston Villa as "massive" as his brace ensured Rangers moved off the bottom of the Barclays Premier League table on Monday night.

Austin's 17th and 69th-minute strikes earned Harry Redknapp's side their second league victory of the campaign and moved them up to 19th at the expense of winless Burnley.

QPR were unlucky to slip to a last-gasp defeat to Liverpool eight days ago in their previous Premier League outing and goalkeeper Rob Green ensured there would be no nervy finish by making a fantastic double save 10 minutes from time to deny Tom Cleverley and then Ciaran Clark.

Wild cheers rang out around Loftus Road when referee Lee Mason blew the full-time whistle and Austin was happy to help QPR back to winning ways in the 200th club appearance of his career.

He said: "We all knew the performance that we put in last Sunday (against Liverpool), (we were) disappointed not to come away with a point.

"We knew if we put in half that performance today we'd get something from the game and luckily we put in even more of a performance and got the three points. It was massive for us."

The win goes a long way to ease the pressure on Redknapp, who continues to face questions about his future, and he felt that the victory was richly deserved.

"It was an excellent performance, I thought we did ever so well," he said.

"They started to get a bit of the ball in the second half and dominate the possession but I felt when we changed it and we tightened up in the middle then suddenly we started getting hold of the ball and I thought we dominated then.

"We had a couple of great chances, we hit the post with Junior's (Hoilett) shot, then it would have been a great goal for (Eduardo) Vargas with great passing movement so overall I thought we well deserved the win."

Redknapp was understandably full of praise for match-winner Austin and believes the former Burnley man can be a prolific marksman in the Premier League.

"Two great finishes for Charlie," he added. "I couldn't be more pleased, he is a smashing lad, (an) absolute fantastic boy.

"He's come out (of) the non-league scene, played down at Poole Town and Hungerford and God knows where he's been around the lower divisions, and to be scoring goals in the Premier League is great for him.

"There's no reason why he can't go on and get a really good tally of goals this year."

Redknapp also revealed that Adel Taarabt could still force his way back into QPR's first team provided he is in the right physical condition.

"Absolutely he can still play a part in the future if he gets himself fit," the former Tottenham boss said.

"It's all I ask people to do is come in every day, train, be thankful for being a professional footballer (and) work hard.

"God gave him a fantastic talent, I just hope he don't waste it. If he's fit and ready to play, he's a great talent."

Redknapp added: "He's working hard this week, he's working with the fitness coaches and we've got a game tomorrow for the reserves and him and one or two of the lads will get a game. That's all I want him to do - get himself fit to run like the boys tonight."

After a promising start to the season Villa have now lost five successive Premier League matches without scoring - the Birmingham club are now just two points clear of the relegation zone in 15th - and manager Paul Lambert insists his players need to halt their slide as soon as possible.

"It's a concern when you don't win football games," the Scot said. "That's always a concern and it's got to stop, that losing streak's got to stop.

"We've got another hard game on Sunday (against Tottenham). The day's performance was pretty decent at times, but not enough to see that game through and when you're on top you need to score."