Sheffield Wednesday deserve 'big respect' according to QPR boss despite league position

QPR boss Marti Cifuentes has said he has ‘big respect’ for Sheffield Wednesday as he prepares to take on Danny Röhl’s side. The Hoops face the Owls this weekend as they look to step another step closer to Championship survival. 

The R’s are currently sat in 16th place in the table and are six points above the drop zone. They have six more fixtures left to get through this season. 

As for Sheffield Wednesday, they remain in the drop zone with fellow Yorkshire pair Huddersfield Town and Rotherham United. The latter have officially dropped into League One after losing 1-0 at home to Plymouth Argyle on Friday night. 

Röhl’s men are three points from safety and will be desperate to claim three points against the Hoops. Their German manager has done an impressive job but has been playing catch-up since joining in October following the club’s woeful start to the campaign under ex-Watford man Xisco Munoz. 

Cifuentes believes QPR’s upcoming opponents deserve respect despite their lowly league position. He has said, as per the club website: “It would be naïve to not understand how important the game is for us and for Sheffield Wednesday.

“They will not be happy after their last game and they will see this as a big opportunity to get closer to us and make things tighter at the bottom. 

“We are aware we need to keep improving and build on the wins over Birmingham and Swansea. We have a big respect for Sheffield Wednesday, especially as we lost to them last time which is still in my mind.”

“It was one of those games (2-1 away at Hillsborough) where we had chances to finish the game but unfortunately for us we didn’t take them, we got punished and ended up losing. 

“I would like to think we have improved since then, we’re more defensively stable and more mature emotionally.

“We keep that result in our mind but we have full respect for Sheffield Wednesday as they’ve done really well since then.”

QPR are in confident mood after winning 1-0 away at Swansea City last time out. They are unbeaten in their last three outings now.

Sheffield Wednesday, on the other hand, lost 2-0 against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium in their last outing. The Yorkshire outfit are winless in their last four.

They won promotion from League One last year after beating Barnsley in the play-off final at Wembley under Darren Moore. Josh Windass scored a last-gasp winner against the Tykes.