“I’m doing alright”

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Alejandro Faurlin still requires a sharp intake of breath when he recalls the final days of last season. He probably always will.

The possibility of a points deduction weighed heavily on the shoulders of every QPR player. But for obvious reasons, no-one felt the strain more than the man whose signing and subsequent contract extension triggered an FA investigation.

So for Faurlin, the relief at the outcome was incalculable.

“It was a very difficult couple of months – very, very difficult indeed – and in the end it was just a massive relief for me, for my family, and of course for the club,” he told West London Sport.

“It’s like QPR is my house and I am happy and comfortable there.”

“For my family it was a very unhappy time. For me, well we were top and going for promotion, and still I felt bad. It was very hard.

“The fans and my team-mates were unbelievable to me during it all. The gaffer was as well. It was a very bad time for me but with everybody helping me I was okay and for that I am grateful.

“The gaffer was great to me. I can only thank him really, because he helped when it was very difficult.

“Everyone said it was not my fault and of course I knew that, but it was hard not to think that it was going to be my fault if we didn’t get promoted. So when it ended, it was just an unbelievable feeling.”

Faurlin being best known for the furore of last Spring detracts not only from his contribution on the pitch, but also the fact that even before that controversy he had shown admirable mental strength to establish himself at QPR the hard way.

This is a player who found himself in a foreign country, in the most physically demanding of divisions, at a deeply troubled club with such a short-term mentality that taking time to settle wasn’t an option.

A few bad performances and he’d have been on a plane back to Argentina quicker than anyone with a grain of sense at Rangers could have said “give the lad time.”

If a player can make it there, maybe he can make it anywhere. Faurlin is 24 and already has more experience to draw upon than most players.

Faurlin says Neil Warnock "helped when it was very difficult."

“Yes, it has all definitely helped me,” he says. “It was tough at first but now I feel confident – it’s like QPR is my house and I am happy and comfortable there.

“It was not easy but I did my best to learn English and to become an important player for QPR. I wanted to show that no matter what, I could be important to the club.
 
“I’ve tried to prove myself and I think I’m doing alright. Sometimes things have been hard for me, but I’m getting there.”
 
His next challenge could be his toughest yet.
 
For a player at his best when given time and space, the intensity of the Premier League means his ability to adapt will be tested again.
 
Faurlin, like many of his team-mates, feels he has a point to prove.
 
“Every single player wants to progress and I’m the same. I want to get better and now my aim is to be a regular player for QPR in the Premier League,” he says.
 
“Last season was fantastic, but now we all start from zero and have to prove we are good enough. We have to show we can play at the top.
 
“I’ll be ready for that and so will the whole team. It will be tough for us, but we will be alright. I am sure of it.”