Queens Park Rangers

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QPR boss Marti Cifuentes said after his side's 5-0 defeat to Burnley:

"I said before that as long as I'm wanted, I'm very happy.

"The way the fans have been supporting me, it makes me feel that I want to give them something back even more than the last two seasons.

"In any case I am very calm about the job I have done and the fact that we have achieved what were difficult targets.

"I'm an ambitious person in the sense that I always push myself. I always want to improve. I have a contract and I want to keep improving. I enjoy my job here, enjoy English football, and am ready for more.

"I've said that the support from the fans that I've got this season, in very difficult moments, is something that I have never seen before and will stay with me forever.

"That's why I'm very sad today. Today hurts. It doesn't define what this team has done this season and it's very sad to finish that way."

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QPR head coach Marti Cifuentes said it was important he and the club were aligned when asked about his future.

Cifuentes has been linked with a move away from Loftus Road after an inconsistent season, with QPR's best possible finish no higher than 12th with two fixtures left.

The Spaniard moved to QPR from Swedish club Hammarby to replace Gareth Ainsworth in October 2023 with the team second from bottom in the Championship table.

He steered the club to an 18th-placed finish with three wins at the end of last season.

QPR sit 15th going into their remaining games against Burnley, who have been promoted, on Saturday and Sunderland, who are assured of a spot in the play-offs, on the final day of the season.

"For me, it's very natural to sit with the owners, the CEO in that case, to do a balance – as I will do with my players, as I will do with my staff," Cifuentes told BBC Radio London.

"So in this moment I think this is when you have to review the things that have gone well, the things that might be improved, and then align for what's next."

Having secured automatic promotion, Burnley will continue the battle for the title when they visit Queen's Park Rangers on Saturday (12:30 BST).

The Clarets won promotion after defeating rivals Sheffield United on Monday but now turn their attentions to winning the league.

They are currently in second place but level on points with Leeds United, bested only by goal difference.

However the title is not the only thing the Lancashire side are vying for, they could also match Reading's unbeaten Championship record if they keep themselves undefeated across their final two league games.

• QPR have won just one of their last seven home league games against Burnley (D3 L3), a 2-0 victory in the Premier League in December 2014.

• Burnley have kept a clean sheet in four of their last five league games against QPR, with the exception being a 2-1 home loss in April 2023.

• After winning seven of their eight home league games between December and February (L1), QPR are now winless in their last five at Loftus Road (D3 L2).

• Burnley are unbeaten in their last 31 league games (W20 D11). It's their longest run in their league history, while only Reading (33 in 2005-06) have had a longer run in a single second tier campaign.

• Burnley have conceded just 15 goals in the Championship this season, despite having an xG against figure of 36.3. Their record of conceding 21 goals fewer than their xGA suggests is at least 10 more than any other side this season.

QPR boss Marti Cifuentes could look to depart the club in the summer following a breakdown in his relationship with chief executive Christian Nourry. (The Sun, external)

Want more? Take a look at Thursday's gossip column here.

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Winning their final two games is the only target for QPR, according to boss Marti Cifuentes.

The Spaniard had previously targeted surpassing last season's points total of 56 and the Rs are one win away from matching that.

QPR finish the season at home to already-promoted Burnley on Saturday (12:30 BST) before a trip to play-off bound Sunderland on 3 May.

"The goal will be to try to finish the season with 59 points - it's two games left and the goal is to win them both," Cifuentes told BBC Radio London.

"It's going to be demanding but we want to finish in a good way especially at home to give a good performance, hopefully a last win and three points for our fans."

The Londoners have won two of their past four games but were beaten 2-1 at home by in-form Swansea City on Easter Monday.

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Queen's Park Rangers manager Marti Cifuentes has praised his side's tactical awareness following their dramatic away win at Preston North End.

The Rs responded to Liam Lindsay's goal - scored at the end of the first half - thanks to strikes from substitutes Michael Frey and Lucas Andersen, with the latter's winner hitting the top left corner in the third minute of stoppage time.

"I'm really happy for the guys because it's not easy to win here," Cifuentes told BBC Radio London.

"They've only lost two games in the whole season [before match at home] and it's not an easy team to play against.

"We spoke during the last week that it would be an uncomfortable game to play because of the way they do.

"[They are] a very physical team, they defend very aggressively, man-to-man almost all over the pitch.

"It's about using the space in behind. I think the first 35-40 minutes we did pretty well to use this space and gaps in behind but unfortunately we couldn't take - in my opinion - what would have been a deserved lead because we were creating some chances.

"At half-time we spoke about changing a couple of things, changing the formation to allow us to press a little bit more aggressively higher up the pitch, a bit more on the front foot and I think that changed the dynamic of the game."

Both these sides should, in theory, have a relatively stress-free end to the season with Queens Park Rangers sitting on the magical 50-points mark and Preston just one point off it.

The two sides meet at Deepdale on Friday (15:00 BST) having both taken six points from their past six games.

• Preston have lost each of their past two home league games against QPR, one more than in their previous 16 games (W8 D7).

• QPR have won five of their past seven league games against Preston (L2), including each of their previous three encounters with the Lilywhites.

• Preston are unbeaten in their past eight home league games on Good Friday (W4 D4), beating Rotherham 3-0 at Deepdale last season.

• Since a 1-0 win at Watford in the top flight in April 1988, QPR are winless in their last four away league games on Good Friday (D2 L2).

• Only Coventry City (22) have scored more Championship goals from crosses this season than QPR (14), with three of their past six league goals coming via crosses.

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Marti Cifuentes said Queens Park Rangers will not rest after a three-match unbeaten run carried them to the brink of Championship safety.

Draws against Cardiff City and Bristol City sandwiched an important win at Oxford United last week to take Rangers past the benchmark 50 points total that usually signifies a team is clear of relegation fears.

Cifuentes, however, wants to climb the table further as his team prepare to travel to Preston North End on Friday.

"We're ready to finish in a good way as we did last season," he told BBC Radio London.

"It's a decent amount of points. My target is always to be better, always to try to push and make sure we win the next game, and that's where my focus is, not only looking down but looking up as well.

"We have a gap of only three points between us and the next team in the table and we are playing Swansea in a few days as well, who are not far from us in table position.

"Those 50 points usually mean safety, but mathematically it's not done yet and it's important to try to win the last four games.

"I want to think we will arrive to these last four games in a good trend, with energy and with a lot of players who didn't play an amount of games and are fresh mentally and physically. It's a good opportunity for us to finish in a strong way."

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Marti Cifuentes said his Queens Park Rangers side had played some of their best football of the season at Loftus Road as a 1-1 draw against Bristol City on Saturday edged the R's nearer to securing Championship survival.

"It felt like the first 25 minutes were excellent, perhaps the best we have played this season here at home," he told BBC London.

"It was a joy to see the energy of the players, attacking again and again.

On conceding an equaliser soon after breaking the deadlock, the Spaniard continued: "It was a bit disappointing as well I think for the guys, emotionally you could see it was not easy after creating this amount of chances in those 25 minutes and then in the first situation [Bristol City] got, they score.

"Overall the first half was very good, the second half they pushed and perhaps we should have been better to create counters and more chances."

Cifuentes said that while QPR's Championship survival is yet to be confirmed, "it looks pretty good at the moment".

He added: "Credit to the players, the fans that stick with us. Now we have these four games left to push and keep getting points."

Queens Park Rangers want to build on their win at Oxford United and finish as high up the Championship table as possible, head coach Marti Cifuentes says.

The Rs ended a run of seven matches without a victory in their 3-1 win at the Kassam Stadium on Wednesday.

The result lifted the Hoops seven points clear of the relegation zone with five games remaining of the season.

They host play-off chasing Bristol City on Saturday with Cifuentes keen for a win that would take them through the 50-point barrier.

"First target [is] to reach the 50 points. Second target is to see if we can improve on last season in what has been an extremely challenging season so far," Cifuentes told BBC Radio London.

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"The target is always to try to be better than what we were yesterday, let's see if we can get those three points for our fans.

"The job is not done and no matter what, we want to finish in a good way the season."

Bristol City are fifth in the table and go into the game off the back of two consecutive wins, with Haydon Roberts scoring a dramatic late winner against West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday.

QPR go into the game without midfielder Sam Field, who injured his ankle and suffered a concussion against Oxford, as well as left-back Kenneth Paal, who injured his hamstring in the same game.

Cifuentes said strikers Michael Frey and Rayan Kolli had both been back training with the first team this week.

Bristol City travel to QPR looking to keep their bid for a Championship play-off finish on track on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The Robins are fifth and hold a three-point cushion to Middlesbrough in seventh after a run of six wins in 10 games (D3 L1).

The Hoops ended a seven-game winless run with a 3-1 victory at Oxford on Wednesday and are seven points clear of the relegation zone.

• Queens Park Rangers have lost just one of their previous six games against Bristol City in the Championship (W3 D2), although that was at home in 2022-23 (0-2).

• Bristol City are unbeaten in their past seven league visits to QPR (W5 D2) since a 1-0 defeat in October 2016.

• After winning seven of their eight home league games across December, January and February, QPR are since winless in three outings at Loftus Road (D2 L1).

• Bristol City have won both of their past two league games, last winning three in a row in December 2023.

• Nahki Wells has scored in both of Bristol City's past two league games; the last time he scored in three successive league appearances was for Queens Park Rangers in January 2020.

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Queen's Park Rangers boss Marti Cifuentes says his side can not "feel sorry" for themselves after they suffered another injury blow to their already weakened squad.

The R's are missing several players because of injury, four of which are strikers, with Alfie Lloyd the newest addition after suffering a groin injury during the goalless draw with Cardiff at the weekend.

"Alfie's physical presence, his capacity to run in behind, was helpful for the team and he was very unfortunate to pick up that injury," the Spaniard told BBC Radio London.

However, the four may be reduced to three following an assessment on Rayan Kolli (pictured) .

The centre-forward has completed two full training sessions after missing the past nine games with a hamstring injury, and could be available for the trip to Oxford.

"He's just had two trainings with the team, so usually we'd like them to have more," Cifuentes said.

"We need to make sure we take care of him because he's a player we want to grow but he could be [available for Oxford]."

Despite having so many important players on the sidelines, Cifuentes doesn't want to ruminate on their bad luck.

"I could be moaning for hours about how unlucky we have been, but this would not help us to win," he said.

"We have done too many good things going through adversity to feel sorry for ourselves."

Oxford United welcome QPR to the Kassam Stadium on Wednesday night (19:45 BST), with just one point separating both sides in the Championship table.

The U's will be hoping to build on their stunning 1-0 win against title chasers Sheffield United over the weekend, and continue an upturn in form.

QPR on the other hand have only picked up two points since mid-February and are at serious risk of being dragged into the relegation scrap.

• This will be Oxford United's first home league game against Queens Park Rangers since September 1998, a game which they won 4-1 under Malcolm Shotton.

• After their 2-0 win in December, QPR could record their first league double over Oxford United since 1996-97.

• Oxford United have won each of their previous three midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) home league games, scoring three goals in both of their last two.

• QPR have lost each of their past six away league outings, last losing more on the bounce in January 2015 as a Premier League club (11).

• QPR have won just one of their previous 24 away league games against newly promoted sides (D9 L14), a 3-0 victory at Hull in August 2021.

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Queen's Park Rangers boss Marti Cifuentes says his side are "struggling" with a lack of options in attack after a goalless draw to Cardiff City on the weekend.

The hosts began the game the stronger, with the Bluebirds unable to muster a shot on target until the 71st minute.

However, QPR were unable to capitalise despite the lack of threat from their opposition.

"I think in the first half we were perhaps slightly better than Cardiff," Cifuentes told BBC Sport.

"The feeling at half-time was that we needed – especially in a game like this with two teams not in the best moment of the season – to score the first goal of the game, but to not lose the game.

"In the second half Cardiff got a bit more energy off the bench... in the end it is a fair result.

"We are struggling with the options that we have in attacking positions, we need to give credit, because we have an honest group of players trying to do their best."