QPR boss Cifuentes believes no reality check is needed following Middlesborough defeat

Marti Cifuentes brushed off suggestions that QPR’s 2-0 defeat to Middlesbrough today would act as a reality check as they look to avoid relegation from the Championship.

The Rangers boss oversaw a four-game unbeaten run before this loss that helped the west London club out of the relegation zone, but second-half goals from Emmanuel Latte Lath and Marcus Forss have left them just a point above the drop.

QPR were six points from safety when Cifuentes took over from Gareth Ainsworth in October, and he was adamant that he has never lost sight of the position the club is in.

“I don’t need a defeat to have a reality check,” said the Spaniard. “I knew from day one the situation is what it is. It’s a really difficult situation.

“I am very optimistic always. Today I am convinced that we are going to reach the target [of avoiding relegation] but if someone thinks it will be easy, they are making a big mistake. I am not a magician, I am here to help.

“The players are showing we can trust them but expecting we are going to win every game 3-0 is delusional.

“It’s going to be tough, and you can see that other teams [in the relegation battle] are doing well so we need to be aware that this will be difficult.

“We are going to push so that the small edges are on our side and hopefully we can achieve the target, but we need to make sure on days like today we believe more than ever in what we are doing.”

The defeat to mid-table Boro came as something of a surprise at the end of a week in which QPR won at Championship leaders Leicester City and performed well in a hard-fought draw against play-off chasing West Bromwich Albion.

However, they fashioned just two shots on target against Michael Carrick’s side and the visitors comfortably saw out the win after Latte Lath had given them a 64th-minute lead.

“We have a sad feeling because we had big expectations about this game,” said Cifuentes.

“We didn’t perform even close to the last game. The second half was a bit better, and we got some chances.

“We knew it would be important to take the lead but unfortunately we couldn’t.

“The first goal comes from conceding a sloppy free-kick, we don’t defend the second phase well.

“It looks like poor goals that we conceded. You always need to keep the balance with how much you can risk [after falling behind] and not concede an up and down game because that breaks your momentum.

“It definitely wasn’t a great game [after] we had a very demanding game on Wednesday [against West Brom], emotionally and physically.”

PICTURES: ROB AVIS