QPR boss excited by unlocking Chair’s maximum potential
QPR boss Marti Cifuentes has backed Ilias Chair to be a special player for his new side after their 1-1 draw with fellow Championship strugglers Rotherham.
The Spanish head coach was appointed as Gareth Ainsworth’s replacement a few days before the west Londoners headed to the New York Stadium at the weekend.
Cifuentes, 41, left Swedish top-flight side Hammarby to join QPR.
The R’s took the lead through Ilias Chair in the 50th minute, but Rotherham equalised 20 minutes later when Georgie Kelly scored his first goal of the season.
It was Chair’s first goal of the season and the first time he has been on the scoresheet since the 3-1 defeat at Middlesbrough in February.
“I’m enjoying coaching him,” Cifuentes told QPR’s YouTube channel. “Ilias is a special player – he will be a very important player for us.
“He was one of the best men on the pitch for us today.”
The point saw Rangers stay in the bottom three of the Championship despite ending their run of six consecutive defeats.
“We’re a bit disappointed about the result,” said Cifuentes. “But I told the guys we need to look at the positive side of it – there are parts of our performance which we can look at in the future.
“It can get better. It’s mixed feelings. We can always want to win as a club, and we had the chances – we deserved the three points. We had the game quite under control. It was not easy but we didn’t concede many goal chances. We created some clear ones.
“Overall we had good control of the game. We look at the performance and I’m glad the team was stable at the back. But when we look at the result, we conceded from a set-piece and I’m not satisfied.”
PICTURE: ROB AVIS
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