QUEENS Park Rangers manager Marti Cifuentes said his players showed “courage and belief” in their 1-0 win against Bristol City at Ashton Gate that moved them to within one point of safety.
After failing to take advantage of Millwall’s defeat to Ipswich Town the previous Wednesday when they lost 1-0 at Stoke City, this time Cifuentes’ side didn’t let the chance slip as Ilias Chair scored the only goal four minutes before half-time and the Lions lost to another relegation rival, Sheffield Wednesday, who are three points behind the R’s.
“That means a lot because we were coming into this from a bad game,” Cifuentes said on the club’s media channels. “We were not happy about that Stoke performance but the guys showed a lot of courage and belief in what we are doing with how they played this game.
“I am so happy because this was an important match for us and we responded – not only in terms of the result but in terms of the level we performed at.
“In the second half we could have easily scored two or three more goals.
“I am happy for a lot of the players who are showing they are capable of performing at a high level.”
QPR were under pressure to get a result ahead of a weekend when they could have been left seven points from safety had they lost and other results gone against them.
“We wanted to show our character,” Cifuentes said. “Even the best teams in the world have bad performances sometimes but it is very important to react. And we did – we reacted at a high level.
“The team has been competing really well since I have been here. Sometimes we have been playing better, like [Saturday], and sometimes not at that level, but we are always very close to getting points, always very close to getting the victories we are looking for.
“We know we are in a tricky situation. We know we need to be able to produce points and those performances like we did [against City].
Cifuentes added: “I am happy for the supporters. To have 2,500 fans come to support us is amazing, and it was an amazing victory for us all.”
QPR play bottom side Rotherham United at Loftus Road this Saturday.
Cifuentes said: “My belief we can stay up has been there since day one.
“When I arrived I know confidence was perhaps not very high, but we all believe in what we are doing.
“We know we need other team’s results but, at the same time, we are very focused on ourselves.
“There are enough games to go. We know we need to win our games and then things happen.
“We must stay humble and prepare for what we know will be a very difficult game against Rotherham next weekend.
“It is a massive game for us. We need to make sure we prepare well and I am sure our supporters will be there to help us.”
