Steve McLaren hailed Angel Rangel as a revelation after his double earned QPR a 2-2 draw away at Stoke – despite the full-back ignoring his orders.

The Rs defender, who turns 36 tomorrow, scored just 10 goals in 350 games for his former club Swansea but an unlikely brace helped McLaren’s men earn a point on the road at the bet365 Stadium.

And the Loftus Road chief revealed that was far from part of his game plan.

He said: “Angel Rangel has been nothing short of a revelation and not just on the field – what a great lad off it.

“But I’ve got to say I don't know why he was in the box and heading the ball in because we told him to stay on the halfway line.

“We were excellent. This was a difficult place for us to come and a difficult game for us. Stoke have quality.

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“Against the run of play, we conceded, which rocked us a bit.

“The response from the team was tremendous. We never stopped and what pleased me most was the way we controlled the game.”

Rangel put the Rs 1-0 up after he met a pinpoint Eberechi Eze cross with a bullet header inside the first ten minutes.

Their lead didn't last long as Saido Berahino made the most of a goalline scramble as he continues to rebuild his career after more than two years without scoring in club football. 

The Potters could have gone ahead when James McClean saw his header come back off the post and eventually, they did just after the hour-mark when Joe Allen tucked away his third league goal of the season.

Tom Ince then had to the ball in the back of the net and looked to have put the game to bed but that effort was ruled out for offside.

Ten minutes from full-time, the combination of Eze and Rangel came off again as the former played the latter in behind for him to coolly dispatch it into the far corner.

Peter Crouch came off the bench and had the ball in the back of the again for Stoke but it was chalked off in the 90th minute.