QPR 0 Brentford 1: Captain Collins nets early goal in derby win | OneFootball

On the same day he was named Brentford captain, Nathan Collins scored the only goal of the game as the Bees beat QPR 1-0 in a pre-season west London derby win at Loftus Road.

The centre-back glanced a Michael Kayode cross into the bottom corner in the second minute of the game, before a convincing display from Keith Andrews' side saw them hold onto the victory.

Brentford made four changes from their last pre-season fixture - a 1-1 draw against Gil Vicente in Portugal - with Sepp van den Berg, Jayden Meghoma, Jordan Henderson and Kevin Schade being replaced by Kristoffer Ajer, Rico Henry, Yehor Yarmoliuk and Keane Lewis-Potter.

And the Bees took the lead inside two minutes, when Collins, who was appointed club captain on Saturday morning, glanced in Kayode's left-footed cross to put the visitors ahead.

It was all Brentford for the opening 10 minutes, with QPR having their first attempt on goal soon after that, as Kieran Morgan drove towards the edge of the penalty area, but fired well over the crossbar.

Andrews' side almost doubled their lead soon after, when some intense pressing from Igor Thiago saw him nick the ball into Fábio Carvalho's path. The former Liverpool man had time on the edge of the box, but his well-struck effort was palmed away by Joe Walsh.

Another long-range effort from QPR's Ziyad Larkeche went high and wide 10 minutes before half-time, with the hosts attempting to put some pressure on the Brentford goal at the end of the first period.

A quiet start to the second half soon livened up after some neat play by Brentford involving some neat, one-touch passing.

The ball was played out of defence and towards the left to Lewis-Potter, whose unsuccessful cross was deflected back towards that flank. Henry was then played into the six-yard box, but his effort across goal was saved well by Walsh.

QPR's first chance of the half came with 15 minutes left to play, when a dangerous free-kick from the left was half-cleared, before an acrobatic effort from Madsen was held comfortably by Caoimhín Kelleher.

Brentford were still pushing for a second, and substitute Frank Onyeka won the ball back well in the final third, before sliding a clever ball into the path of summer signing Antoni Milambo. The Dutch Under-21 international was on the edge of the six-yard box when he took the shot, but Walsh saved again.

Walsh made another smart stop with five minutes to play. A Romelle Donovan cross was met by a powerful Myles Peart-Harris header, but the QPR keeper got down well to push it away.

Peart-Harris had the final chance of the game in added time, when Mads Roerslev cut a ball back to him inside the penalty area, but he couldn't keep his shot down.

QPR: Walsh; Dunne (Pearman 54), Morrison, Cook (Adamson 54), Larkeche; Field, Madsen (Varane 70); Poku (Sutton 70), Chair, Dembele (Vale 85); Morgan (Bennie 70)

Subs not used: Nardi, Burrell, Mbengue

Brentford: Kelleher; Kayode (Roerslev 76), Ajer (Arthur 64), Collins (Stephenson 76), Henry (Hickey 64); Yarmoliuk (Onyeka 76), Jensen (Milambo 64); Carvalho (Donovan 76), Damsgaard (Konak 76), Lewis-Potter (Meghoma 76); Thiago (Peart-Harris 64)

Subs not used: Valdimarsson, Rose, Holland, Laidlaw

Andrews: We looked strong, athletic and structured

Brentford head coach Keith Andrews reacted to his side's west London derby win against QPR.

"It was a good representation of where we’re at as a group three quarters of the way through pre-season," said Andrews.

“We’re 15 days away from Nottingham Forest and I think you could see where we’re functioning really well. Physically, I thought we looked strong, we looked athletic, we looked like we had really good structure with and without the ball.

“The area of fine tuning was that last little bit of quality; the final third, that little pass, that decision, that real conviction of going and getting the second and third goal.

“We knew it was going to be a proper game with an edge. When it got tetchy, we fronted that and equally, didn’t get carried away. We remained really calm and confident in what we were doing and how we were going about things."

Henry feeling good ahead of new campaign

Brentford defender Rico Henry shared his thoughts after starting in the Bees' 1-0 win against QPR at Loftus Road.

“It was unbelievable to be back," said the 28-year-old.

“Every day being injured, I was dreaming of coming back. It was good to hear my name being chanted, it's always a pleasure to play in front of the fans.

“I’m feeling good. It’s minutes in the legs and that’s what we need. Pre-season has been tough but we need to keep it going, it’s going to benefit us in the long run.

“The gaffer said it before the game, it’s never a friendly with these guys. We knew we had to come out firing and that’s what we did."