‘One of the best in the Championship’ – Cifuentes hails Chair following Derby victory
Chair scored his first goals of the season in Friday night’s 4-0 win against Derby County to help move Rangers within three points of the second-tier play-off places.
The Moroccan international has missed large parts of the campaign through injury but has now started the last 11 games in all competitions.
“Ilias is one of the best players in the league, as you’ve heard from me [before],” said Cifuentes. “He scored two goals and was angry with me because I subbed him, but he’s a fantastic player and it’s a bit sad that we missed him for such a long time at the beginning of the season.
“He had two big injuries after being so reliable in his career. I’m happy that he’s back and he’s performed well and not only him but all of the players are doing really well.”
Having played most of his football under Cifuentes as a left-winger, Chair’s position has changed in recent weeks.
The 27-year-old started the 2-1 win against Blackburn Rovers in a central attacking position and has remained there in the two matches that have followed.
“First of all we felt that coming back from an injury, playing more central is a different kind of situation for him,” Cifuentes explained. “Second, I think Koki [Saito] has been doing really well on the left and the relations – I always speak about relations in football not only about positions – that Koki has with Illy together with Ken [Paal] on the left side give something very interesting for us when it comes to attack.
“He has been doing really well assisting and creating situations for other players. Coaching is mostly about trying to find the solution for a puzzle and making the puzzle work.”
PICTURE: ROB AVIS