Cifuentes hails Chair after thumping QPR victory

Marti Cifuentes hailed Ilias Chair after the QPR playmaker scored twice in a 4-0 thrashing of Derby at Loftus Road.

They were Chair’s first goals of a season in which he has been hampered by injury problems.

He has taken some time to regain his sharpness but was outstanding against the Rams before being taken off in the second half.

Koki Saito and Ronnie Edwards also scored in a thumping Rangers win.

Head coach Cifuentes declared: “I think Ilias is one of the best players in the league.

“I’m pleased that today he scored the two goals – he’s a bit angry with me because he wanted the hat-trick and I subbed him.

“He’s a fantastic player and it’s sad that we missed him for such a long time in the beginning of the season.

“Happy that he’s back and happy that he’s doing well. And it’s not only him – all the players are performing at a really high level.”

Cifuentes had been deploying Chair on the left but recently decided to move him back to his preferred central position.

In recent discussions between the pair, Chair made it clear he wanted to play there.

“It’s a combination of things,” Cifuentes explained.

“First of all, we felt that, coming back from injury, playing more central it’s different kind of situations for him.

“Second, I think Koki has been doing really well on the left and the relations that Koki together with Ken (Paal) and Illy have on this left side, they’ve built something very trusting for us.

“I think he (Chair) has been doing really well assisting, creating situations for other players.

“I always say that coaching is about trying to find solutions for the puzzle and making the puzzle work.”

There was praise too for Yang Min-hyeok, who impressed on his full debut following the teenager’s recent loan move from Tottenham.

Yang, who replaced Paul Smyth in the starting line-up, created Rangers’ third goal, breezing past Matt Clarke on the left before finding Chair, who finished emphatically.

“He did well,” said Cifuentes.

“We felt that Smythy had been playing a lot of minutes and Yang has been showing a lot of good things in training.

“Smythy picked up a bit of a knock on his knee. He was fine to start but we felt it was a good opportunity for Yang, to see what he could give to the team from the start, and I think he did really well.

“For the third goal he showed great quality and we need just to help him adapt to the league and English football.”