Coventry in debt to Dublin again

Queen's Park Rangers 1 Coventry City 1

Dion Dublin, the Coventry captain, yesterday headed his third goal in three games to ease his team's problems near the bottom of the Premiership.

With 15 minutes left the powerful striker, whose six-match absence with a knee injury earlier this season coincided with City's drop in form, answered Simon Barker's stunning first-half strike with a header.

Coventry have still won only one League match this season, but they ensured that Queen's Park Rangers also stayed among the strugglers by stretching the west London side's run to five games without a victory.

The player-manager, Ray Wilkins, furious over QPR's 2-0 defeat at Southampton a fortnight ago, ditched the sweeper system and recalled the striker Kevin Gallen.

But the mainspring of QPR's limited success this season, Trevor Sinclair, was strangely subdued. He was eventually replaced by Wilkins, who came on seconds before Dublin's equaliser.

QPR looked like holding on to their 37th-minute lead as their American goalkeeper, Jurgen Sommer, blocked efforts from John Salako and the Brazilian Isaias as Coventry tried to equalise.

But Dublin's header from Salako's deep cross left Sommer helpless and Steve Ogrizovic, playing his first Premiership game since breaking a leg in April, ensured Coventry kept their point by sticking out a long leg to deny Danny Dichio three minutes from time.

Queen's Park Rangers: Sommer; Brevett (Challis, 24), Maddix, Ready, Yates, Zelic, Barker, Gallen, Impey, Dichio, Sinclair (Wilkins, 74). Substitute not used: McDonald.

Coventry City: Ogrizovic; Shaw, Hall, Williams, Rennie, Ndlovu, Richardson, Telfer (Strachan, 85), Isaias, Dublin, Salako. Substitutes not used: Pickering, Filan.

Referee: M J Bodenham (Looe).