Debutants have a ball: Queens Park Rangers boss thrilled with comeback as new boys help deny Blades

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MARTI Cifuentes was thrilled with Queens Park Rangers’ second-half fightback in their 2-2 draw against Sheffield United last weekend. 

It looked like it was going to be a humbling opening day in the Championship for the R’s when Gustavo Hamer and Kieffer Moore had the hosts 2-0 up at half-time. 

Jimmy Dunne headed in debutant Karamoko Dembele’s corner on 55 minutes before Jack Colback was sent off after a second yellow card seven minutes from time. 

But the ten men rallied again and another payer on his debut, Koki Saito, set up Lyndon Dykes for the 88th-minute equaliser. 

“It was definitely a game with two halves.” Cifuentes said. 

“The first one was very disappointing because we knew that was the kind of start we could expect from Sheffield United in terms of putting us under pressure.

“They have got a striker who is very good at holding the ball, but as well running in behind, flicking on.

“It is a team that has just come down from the Premier League, first game at home, big expectations, so that is the kind of start you expect.

“Unfortunately, we did not cope with that. I would say the first half was not very good and all the things we missed in the first half, we had in the second.

“We were more dynamic on the ball, we were more fluid in possession, we had the capacity to challenge in one-v-ones in areas that we wanted to challenge, breaking the first line of pressure, creating chances, there was definitely a big difference.”

Cifuentes added: “We signed Koki because he has this capacity in one-v-ones, in the last third he is very dynamic, he can use both feet so it is not easy for the defenders to defend against him because he can go both sides, he is good at making assists and breaking lines as well.

“I am happy for him and Kader [Dembele], who both had good influences on the game.

“I am very satisfied with both of them as they have only been here for a few days, and been shown a lot of clips and their heads were probably close to exploding with all the information they got!

“They are good players and hopefully they will help us a lot.

“We are bringing in players who are very new to this league, players who will need some time to adapt and to be in their best shape because they are coming from pre-season or a few days of holiday in the case of Koki.

“We need to be realistic about expectations on those guys and on the team because we are a team in a transition period.”

QPR host Plymouth Argyle at 12.30pm this Saturday. 

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