Queens Park Rangers head coach Julien Stéphan believes his young side are beginning to show greater maturity after securing a 2-1 victory over Lincoln City at Loftus Road.

The result lifted Rangers into eighth place in the Championship heading into the international break, with Stéphan suggesting his players are learning from some difficult experiences earlier in the campaign.

QPR had endured a challenging period before welcoming the Imps to West London, with matches against Southampton and Burnley testing their progress. However, Saturday’s victory provided a welcome boost, particularly after Lincoln had threatened to take something from the contest.

Stéphan Sees Signs Of Growing Maturity

The Frenchman believes the age profile of his squad is an important factor when assessing their performances, particularly when it comes to making decisions in difficult moments.

“It’s a part of our job,” he told assembled written press, including Football Lowdown.

“You know, we have one of the younger teams of the league, so it’s a part of our job as well to build this mentality and to use the different experiences that we had before.

“Southampton was a tough one, even if for me the score was very harsh, but we needed to have a fair assessment of the game.”

Stéphan also felt his side had deserved more from their meeting with Burnley, a game in which he believed Rangers had created sufficient opportunities to secure a better outcome. The difference against Lincoln was their ability to find a decisive second goal, with Glen Kamara eventually providing the winner after the visitors had fought their way back into the contest.

“I think against Burnley, we did well, we were dominant, we had our situations, we had our chances.

“Today it was the same. The big difference between Burnley and today is that we used the chances during the second half to score the second goal.

“We could do that against Burnley as well. We could have probably four or five more points at the start of the season.”

Lessons From Missed Opportunities

Although Rangers have now moved back into the top eight, Stéphan feels their position could have been considerably stronger. The head coach believes his players have surrendered opportunities to collect additional points, something he attributes partly to the inexperience within his squad.

“But if we didn’t have the four or five points that we could have, it’s for a specific reason.

“And the specific reason is because we are a little bit young, sometimes we miss some good decisions sometimes, and it will be a part of the development of this team.

“We have to accept that. But it’s a good sign for me, it’s a positive sign to be able to turn this game as well and to win.”

Saturday’s victory illustrated both sides of that argument. Richard Kone gave Rangers an early lead, but a mistake in possession allowed Freddie Draper to release Dom Jefferies for Lincoln’s equaliser. The visitors subsequently threatened to take the lead themselves before Kamara struck in the 80th minute, finishing after good work from substitute Ilias Chair.

The result leaves Rangers with three wins, two draws and two defeats from their last seven Championship fixtures, a sequence which has included some demanding opposition. With 15 league matches played, Stéphan will now hope the international break provides an opportunity to recover players and build on the growing confidence within his squad.