Marti Cifuentes happy as QPR keep the winning feeling and finish ‘in a good way’

Posted Saturday, May 04, 2024 by PA

Manager Marti Cifuentes was pleased his QPR players gave their travelling supporters victory on the final day of the Sky Bet Championship season.

The Hoops emerged as one of the form teams in the division in hauling themselves clear of relegation trouble and Saturday’s 2-1 win at Coventry ensured they ended the campaign with three straight victories.

That they did not let up after securing safety with last week’s thrashing of Leeds speaks volumes of the mentality Cifuentes has brought to Loftus Road since his arrival in October.

Cifuentes said: “Definitely a good way to finish the season, with a good result against a very good team that showed how good they have been this season.

“They perhaps didn’t get the results they wanted, but they’ve been challenging the play-offs for a lot of games and then almost getting to the FA Cup final.

“So, I’m glad for the guys to finish in that way, especially after the emotional week after the Leeds game.

“We wanted to give something else to the supporters who came here today, and we managed to achieve that, so I’m very glad for that.

“I’m very happy with the performance of the guys we dropped in.

“I think Reggie [Cannon] today managed a stable 90 minutes, I think Eljiah [Dixon-Bonner] showed he’s a good young player who can develop a lot and Walshy [Joe Walsh] has been working so hard.”

The game sprung to life when Ilias Chair fired in a wonderful opener for QPR from outside the area, before Morgan Fox bundled in his first goal in more than four years to double the visitors’ lead.

Coventry ensured a tight finish when Jamie Allen headed in Haji Wright’s cross from close range but the hosts ended the season without a win in their last six league games.

Their manager, Mark Robins, said: “We were spent, we’ve been spent for a few weeks now.

“After the Manchester United game, there’s just nothing left in the tank, and they’ve tried their best – they’re tried there – and we’ve just come up short in the games that we’ve had.

“Really, you draw a line under it and move on, and whatever’s happened has happened and what we do next is most important.

“For me, it was always going to be difficult, and that’s not a cliche, that’s to do with the fact that it’s well-documented now that we’ve not really had quite enough.

“We’ve not had enough luck, to be honest with you, because we’ve picked up injuries. But that’s to do with the fact that we’ve not been able to rotate when we’ve needed to, when people have needed to come out and keep their level.”