Clarke: Coates is progressing well
Steve Clarke today saluted Sebastian Coates' Anfield progress after watching the Uruguayan defender fire home his first goal for the club in stunning fashion on Wednesday night.
Coates opened his account for the Reds in style with a second half bicycle-kick, leaving Clarke rueing the fact his sublime effort was largely forgotten following the late drama at Loftus Road.
"It was a fantastic goal and he showed great technique," Clarke told Liverpoolfc.tv.
"Sebastian has come in this year. He hasn't been in the starting line-up probably as often as he would like but we can see his progress and we can see he is adapting to the game over here.
"Any time he has been asked to play in the team he has done great and it's just a shame for him, on the night he scores such a great goal, that will probably be forgotten a little bit because of the result."
Asked whether the Uruguay international had attempted anything like his stunning goal during training at Melwood, Clarke added: "I haven't seen him try that in training and it was a bit of a shock to everybody, but it was great technique and I was really pleased for the boy."
The Scot also insists the players learned a harsh footballing lesson during the five-goal thriller against Mark Hughes' side.
He added: "It's a great example of how unpredictable a football match can be. For 80 minutes we totally dominated the game and then got caught at the end.
"We conceded three bad goals and instead of coming off talking about a great performance and three points we came away with nothing.
"Hopefully the lads will learn from the experience and they will learn that even though you've been in control of the game, when it goes to 2-1 it's a different game. You have to shut up shop and close the game out.
"Maybe the last 10 minutes wouldn't have been as attractive as the previous 80 we played, but you have to get the results.
"At the end of the day we want to entertain and we want to be great, but it's the results business and to come away with no points instead of three was really hard to take."
Clarke is now hoping Liverpool can take their QPR frustration out on another side fighting for their lives when Wigan Athletic visit Anfield on Saturday.
He said: "It's important for us that we bounce back so we are looking for a reaction from the players and looking for them to put right what went wrong for us at QPR in the later stages of the match.
"If we can do that, work hard and play the football that we know we can, capitalise on the chances we know we will create, then we can look forward to getting three points on the board."
Despite being second from bottom in the Barclays Premier League, Latics boss Roberto Martinez has kept his footballing principles and not changed his philosophy to a direct style, favouring the passing game - a factor that is respected by Clarke.
He added: "We watched Wigan last week when they drew 1-1 with West Bromwich Albion at home and they are a team that like to play a lot of football.
"Our home crowd will need to be a bit patient at times because Wigan pass the ball well and they have moments in the game when they are in control of possession.
"They are fighting for their lives and we expect a difficult game. It will be a difficult game in the footballing context as it's not going to be batten down the hatches and facing long direct balls because they play good football.
"They play a system which is slightly different to most teams and they like to make the pitch big, so it will be a hard and physical effort, but we feel if we can play our football and play to our strengths then it's a game we should win."
Asked whether he felt Wigan are in a somewhat false position in the league, Clarke added: "To be honest when you get to this stage of the season you are where you are in the table.
"We argue ourselves we should have more points but we haven't. I'm sure Wigan have had matches they feel they should have picked up more points from.
"If you watched our game on Wednesday night you will know that nothing is certain until it's over. We will keep fighting for every point and at Liverpool Football Club that's what you have to do anyway.
"One of Kenny's favourite sayings is we will get to the end of the season, add up the points and see where we are."
Clarke also provided an update on the injuries that forced Martin Kelly and Charlie off the field in the capital on Wednesday night.
He said: "Martin came off early in the game which was a knock he had from our previous game at Stoke. It flared up again and he was finding it difficult to sprint so he would have to be a doubt for the weekend.
"Charlie is having a scan and we should have more news after that."