‘A milestone’ – Marti Cifuentes reacts as Rotherham win sees QPR move out of the Championship relegation zone

QPR head coach Marti Cifuentes believes players and fans alike can take belief from his side moving out of the Championship relegation zone.

A combination of Rangers’ 2-1 win against Rotherham United on Saturday and Stoke City’s defeat at Cardiff City means Cifuentes’ side are out of the bottom three for the first time since September.

QPR had previously passed up five opportunities to escape the drop zone since the Spaniard’s appointment in October, but their Championship destiny is now in their own hands.

“I’m very happy for the guys and for the fans,” said Cifuentes. “Finally, after a lot of weeks in the bottom three, it is a kind of milestone mentally but at the same time we need to remain humble.

“We have a very difficult schedule ahead of us so we need to keep on pushing but this shows the progress of the team.”

QPR fell behind to a Rotherham side that is rooted to the bottom of the second-tier table when Tom Eaves struck after only seven minutes.

However, a spirited second-half comeback saw goals from Paul Smyth and Chris Willock earn Rangers all three points.

Cifuentes was not entirely satisfied with his team’s showing though.

“The performance today was mixed,” he said.

“Perhaps the worst scenario we could face was not starting well and going behind after a few minutes, and that’s what happened.

“We spoke a lot about starting on the front foot and putting pressure [on Rotherham]. Rotherham in the last few weeks have changed their approach. They are in an all or nothing situation so they are risking more.

“We struggled in the first half in finding a way to beat this pressure. We worked on it during the week but we couldn’t find the right way to do it.