Yoann Barbet has had praise heaped upon him by manager Mark Warburton and he claims that he is the reason why youngster Conor Masterson cannot make the first-team.
Centre-half Barbet joined the club in the summer after he departed Brentford on a free transfer, and has only been able to make 16 appearances all season due to injuries.
The Frenchman put in another top performance midweek after the R’s defeated Derby County 2-1 at Loftus Road.
In fact, with the club being particularly leaky all season, his return to the team has played a big part in the team’s improved defensive record.
Is Dominic Ball captain material?
Yes
No
After coming back from injury, he has started the past four games, in which, Rangers are unbeaten and have only conceded three goals, winning two games in the process.
Playing alongside skipper Grant Hall, the defender came in for young Irishman Masterson after the 21-year-old had a pretty good spell in the starting XI.
Warburton has now come out and praised the defender, and went onto add that the fact that he is left-footed is hugely important to the balance of the team.
The QPR boss said: “It’s left-sided balance. Conor Masterson stepped in for us – he’s a young defender with a really bright future. But Yoann provides that natural left-footed balance.
“You see it in the diagonal balls he hits and the tackles he can make. He’s got two good feet but his left foot is Premier League level.
“It really helps with the balance of the defence and you can see the results in the last few games.”
While the Premier League and QPR defenders are two things which have rarely been mentioned in the same sentence this season, you can see what the manager is saying in terms of the importance of having a left-footed defender as the left-sided centre back.
The ‘young’ defender might now be turning 27 in May, but the last four games have shown exactly how important he is to this team going into the end of next season and the next.
Masterson has shown a lot of quality and is one for the future, however, he still has a bit to go before he should be starting ahead of Barbet.
