MARTI Cifuentes accepted his side weren’t clinical enough in the battle between two sides that have raced from the relegation zone earlier in the season into play-off contentions as Sheffield Wednesday won 2-0 at Loftus Road at the weekend.
Michael Smith and Callum Paterson scored in the last 20 minutes to end the Hoops’ five-game unbeaten run.
The Owls moved to within three points of the top six with QPR three points further back.
“I am not happy with the result but credit to Sheffield Wednesday, they were more clinical than us in a game with not many goal chances,” Cifuentes said.
“I thought we started the game pretty well. We were trying to use the possession to put pressure on, I thought we were quite active on the right side especially, with [Paul] Smythy and Kieran [Morgan] but we lacked a bit of end product.
“The first goal was a big moment in the game.
“We had a couple of chances with the crossbar from Ken [Paal] and the header from Ronnie [Edwards] but the keeper made a very good save from that one.
“We knew they would bring a lot of physicality. There were a lot of interruptions and a lot of free-kicks and unfortunately we could not create the momentum that we wanted.
“In the end, they were clinical and we were not.
Cifuentes added: “We cannot blame fatigue. That is the way the league is. Obviously it was a big effort but we were ready for the game, we cannot use an excuse.
“We just need to make sure we move on and we recover well.”
QPR travel to Millwall on Saturday.
Cifuentes said: “One defeat cannot just now make us feel very pessimistic. We need to focus on the task which is to prepare for the next game and learn from this one.”
Meanwhile, Cifuentes welcomed the news that Ilias Chair, 27, signed a new contract over the weekend.
“I have said many times that for me he is one of the best players in the league and he is a very important player for us,” Cifuentes said. “I am sure it is very good news for all of us.”
