'If I had 11 changes' - QPR boss slams his players as attention turns to season-defining Cardiff City clash

QPR boss Marti Cifuentes tore into his players after their 3-1 defeat to Stoke City on Saturday, with his side’s winless run now standing at six games. The Hoops once looked like they were galloping towards the playoffs after going on a fine run to put a disappointing start behind them earlier this season.

But the winter has not been kind to them, and they are are now suddenly looking over their shoulder, with the relegation zone now just seven points below them while they have played a game more.

Over recent seasons, 15th spot at this stage in the season would have you safe in the Championship, but Luton Town and Derby County, who are both currently in the bottom three, are on 38 points, and with only seven points between them and 15th place with the Rams having a game in-hand, it looks as though no one in that position range is safe just yet.

That is doubly the case for QPR because they play Cardiff City next weekend, and the Bluebirds are currently just two points ahead of Derby having played a game more. Should the Hoops lose that home clash, Cardiff would move within two points of them, showing just how important the game could be. Meanwhile, if QPR were to win, they would surely be feeling safe given they would have an eight-point gap over the Bluebirds with six games to go.

But a win feels hard to come by for QPR at this stage, now six games without one, and what will concern Hoops fans is the way Cifuentes tore into his players after their lacklustre performance at Stoke. He said after the game: “Yeah it was a really bad performance, Stoke were better than us and that’s it. I think we started poorly and the rest of the first half was poor, the reaction that we were looking for in the second half was definitely too late.”

“Yeah probably if I had 11 changes I would’ve done it as well. But we were late by 70 minutes onto the pitch today and it’s very disappointing because we knew how important this game was and how desperate Stoke would be and credit to them, I think they had a very good performance.”

The hairdryer treatment may be valid from Cifuentes, but the brutal verdict in the media is a bold move when trying to arrest a slide down the table. There could be a risk of losing the players at a stage in the season where the Hoops likely only need a couple of wins to go into the season without the worry of being dragged into the relegation battle.

Though, Cifuentes did appear as though he had cooled down a little when he added: “I have big belief in my players. We need to make sure that we perform better. We need to show that we are good enough to win some more games. I think we need to make sure that we stay together, we need to make sure that everyone understands how important the next couple of weeks are and that we're going to need everyone."

Your next QPR read, How QPR and Millwall fare in new predicted Championship table