QPR boss Cifuentes makes Loftus Road admission ahead of Bristol City clash

Marti Cifuentes believes his QPR side need to build a connection with supporters at Loftus Road to end their miserable home record.

The west Londoners have won just one of their last 20 matches in front of their own fans, contributing to them currently sitting second-bottom of the Championship table, six points from safety.

However, there were encouraging signs of progress as Cifuentes secured a 1-1 draw at Rotherham United in his first game in charge to end a run of six consecutive defeats.

He is now calling upon his players to make his first game in the Loftus Road dugout a memorable one.

“It is going to be very exciting,” Cifuentes said. “It is something I have been looking forward to over the whole week.

“For us, it is going to be very important to build a connection with our fans. I want them to feel proud of the way we play and the way we approach the game.

“Most importantly, we want to get the results. We must use the energy the fans give us at Loftus Road to our benefit.

“We should build a feeling for the opponent that when they come to play against us, they need to do a lot of good things to get points at Loftus Road. This is the feeling that I want to start to have against Bristol City.”

The visitors will also have a new manager in charge for Saturday’s game after appointing Oxford United boss Liam Manning to replace Nigel Pearson.

Manning, who was a candidate for the QPR job before Michael Beale took over in the summer of 2022, has only had a few days with his new players, meaning Cifuentes is not entirely sure what to expect from the Robins.

“It is not a common situation,” he said. “It’s always a balance between their current style and how much a manager can do in a few days.

“We think they have a clear identity of how they want to play and the new manager has a clear way of playing.

“Mainly the focus is on ourselves, especially when I’ve only had a couple of weeks to work with the guys. But this week has been fantastic, the energy [of the players] has been really good – they are buying into our concepts. It is very encouraging to see what they are doing.”