QPR boss plays down Austin's goading of deflated Bees during classic encounter

Mark Warburton defended Charlie Austin for his exuberant celebrations in front of the Brentford dug-out following his winner in Wednesday night's thrilling west London derby.

The game was full of passion and very vocal throughout - both from the players on the pitch and from the support teams on the sidelines.

For a good while now, Rangers have been frustrated by their upstart neighbours - as they would have it - and to see them doing so well in a new stadium this season has been particular galling for supporters.

So when Austin capped a great second-half comeback to clinch a 2-1 victory, something over-the-top was perhaps to be expected.

But the Rangers boss, who used to be the opposition's manager, said: "Thomas and Charlie will shake hands and move on.

"It's a local derby with emotions running high and Charlie's just scored the winner - it's never going to be nicey-nicey.

"Someone might not agree with the way he conducted himself, but Charlie's a top-class pro and it means a lot.

"In the first half an hour we showed far too much respect to Brentford and they were the better team. They're a good team if you give them time and space.

"We had to respond and be better in the second half, which we certainly were. The players deserve so much credit for that quality of response.

"I’m delighted for Charlie and for the team. It’s a really important three points for us and obviously we know what it means to the supporters.

Thomas Frank had to soak up the disappointment of seeing his side fall to a second defeat this week, having guided the Bees briefly to the top of the Championship following a magnificent undefeated run of 21 games.

But the Dane was philosophical about the reverse, with his side still second in the table.

"The important message to get out is that if anyone had told us at the beginning of the season that we'd be in this position, with 57 points, I think we would have said 'Yes, we'll take that'," the Bees boss said.

"I'm aware we can lose the next one every single time because this league is so even.

"I showed only one clip to the players after the Barnsley game, which we lost to a team that was just a tiny bit better than us. The clip I showed was in the 94th minute when we had eight players sprinting back from a corner.

"If you have that mentality, work-rate and togetherness you will be absolutely fine."