Cifuentes sees ‘encouraging signs’ in QPR draw
Marti Cifuentes saw encouraging signs in the performances of Koki Saito and Jonathan Varane in QPR’s 1-1 draw with Coventry.
Teenage midfielder Kieran Morgan’s first senior goal rescued a point for Rangers and took them off the bottom of the Championship.
The club’s summer signings have struggled during a poor start to the campaign.
Nicolas Madsen was dropped and Zan Celar was again unimpressive up front, but Saito did well as a left wing-back after replacing the injured Kenneth Paal early on, while Varane produced an improved display in midfield.
Varane, back in the side after serving a ban following his recent sending-off against Blackburn, competed well throughout.
But the 18-year-old Morgan, signed during the summer after being released by Tottenham, stole the show.
Head coach Cifuentes said: “I’m very happy for him (Morgan). He’s a humble boy and will keep working and hopefully it will be the first (goal) of many.
“I am very happy as well for Koki, coming on after just eight minutes in a not-easy situation and I think it was a fantastic performance.
“And I’m happy for Jonathan because after three games suspended he knew it was a difficult situation he left us in against Blackburn.
“The way he responded – I think he was MVP (most valuable player) in the game – he did a really good job for the team. So encouraging signs.
“We cannot expect now that he will be MVP in all the games. What we know is that he’s a young player who comes from a different way of playing but he’s training well, showing commitment, and we know that he has qualities that can go really well in the Championship.
“We need to help him to have more performances, and even better performances, than he did.”
Haji Wright gave the visitors the lead after just four minutes.
Cifuentes’ side, with only one win this season and having sunk to the bottom of the table by losing at home to fellow strugglers Portsmouth on Saturday, could ill afford another home defeat.
And Morgan’s goal was enough to take them back above Pompey on goal difference.
“It was not the result we wanted – never start a game thinking a draw would be a good result – but after a difficult start we showed the kind of strength we have,” said Cifuentes.
“I’m a strong believer that in life and in football you need to work hard when things are not working. You need to keep going and keep believing.
“There is belief. There is trust. We know that we are in a difficult situation, but there is strong belief and trust and strong commitment.
“We know that we need to improve in many areas of our game, but I do see players that really want to play for this team.”
