QPR striker Taarabt hits back over fitness

LONDON — Queens Park Rangers (QPR) striker Adel Taarabt has hit back at manager Harry Redknapp who called him overweight and unfit at the weekend. “It’s not true to say I’m not fit. He tried to give an excuse,” Taarabt told the Daily Mail in an interview published on Tuesday. “I was desperate to play before the game. I was fuming when I didn’t play. He should have said ‘when he is fit he will play’. He is an experienced manager and he should have controlled that situation.” Redknapp had criticised Taarabt after his side crashed to a 3-2 defeat at home to Liverpool on Sunday, even though the Morocco striker did not play, which kept them rooted at the bottom of the Premier League on four points from eight games.