Hughes hails goalscorer Cisse (From Gazette & Herald)

Hughes hails goalscorer Cisse

6:52am Monday 7th May 2012 in National Sport © Press Association 2013

QPR manager Mark Hughes praised the impact of substitute Djibril Cisse after the Frenchman scored a dramatic late winner against Stoke to move the club a step closer to Barclays Premier League survival.

In an uneventful game that seemed to be petering out into a scoreless draw, Cisse came off the bench to bury an 89th-minute winner. The Frenchman has scored five goals and been sent off twice in his seven QPR appearances, and Hughes has been happy to deal with the dismissals if the former Liverpool striker's goals help the club survive.

"I'm delighted for Djibril," he said. "We left it late. We played a little bit stop-start and it was difficult to replicate the momentum we've generated in recent weeks. You hope that something will happen and thankfully it did."

Hughes admitted the two red cards Cisse had been issued - against Wolves and Sunderland - have not helped, but his goalscoring capabilities have made up for that.

"The reverse of that is that we have lost him for a number of games through suspension and we have to acknowledge that has hurt us this year," he said.

"To be fair the one guy you would want to be on the situation we found ourselves in, with a guy in the box waiting to get on to the end of a chance, is Djibril because he is an outstanding finisher and has been involved in key moments like today throughout his career."

Stoke boss Tony Pulis, meanwhile, praised his players' approach but was disappointed with the lack of finishing.

"I was disappointed, I don't think it was a game we deserved to lose," he said.

"I don't think anyone could question the players' attitude and application.

"When we've got in there we've not hit the target, I don't think we made the keeper make the save, though we created some great opportunities. There's about four or five chances where you'd expect us to score."