Marti Cifuentes explains why QPR started so poorly against Rotherham United

QPR head coach Marti Cifuentes celebrated a 'milestone' result against Rotherham United as his side moved out of the Championship relegation zone on goal difference.

The Rs had to do it the hard way, conceding to the visitors in the opening ten minutes as the London outfit turned in a sloppy start to the game. Speaking after the match, Cifuentes reasoned why his team were slow out of the blocks.

He said: "The performance today was mixed. It was perhaps the worst scenario we could face, going behind after a few minutes. We spoke a lot about starting front foot, put pressure.

"Rotherham have been changing their approach in the last few weeks, they are in an all-or-nothing situation so are risking more. We could see that against Ipswich, they were man-marking and pressing very high. It's more risky but it paid off for them. At half time we made some adjustments and the second half was much better."

Cifuentes was quick to note his team's progress up the league too but was adamant that his squad would not get carried away with a big task still ahead of them. He added: "I'm very happy for the guys, the fans. Finally, after a lot of weeks in the bottom three, it's a milestone mentally but we have to keep humble and keep pushing. It shows the performance of the team."

Paul Smyth and Chris Willock found themselves on the scoresheet against Rotherham United but it was Ilias Chair who grabbed the attention on Saturday after making headlines off the pitch this week. The Moroccan has been sentenced to one year in prison by a Belgian court for assault but is appealing the decision.

Speaking about his selection, Cifuentes said: "I think that the club already made a clear statement about the situation. He's an available player. A very good performance and a very important player for us. I don't want to comment so much about this - I'm pleased about the team performance."