Cifuentes wants strong finish from QPR

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Marti Cifuentes congratulated his QPR players for taking the club to the verge of Championship safety and urged them to finish the season strongly.

The head coach’s aim has long been to better the 56 points Rangers managed last term as that would be seen as a sign of significant progress.

The 1-1 draw at home to Bristol City took them to the 50-point mark generally regarded as being enough to avoid relegation and, given that they are eight ​clear of 22nd-placed Cardiff and have a vastly superior goal difference, they look safe.

“I definitely hope so. This 50 points has been the first target. It looks good,” Cifuentes said.

“The distance is eight points plus the goal difference, so it’s kind of nine. So we’re in a very good position.

“But that’s all I’m going to see about this. We have four games left and need to keep pushing.

“Unless I am very bad with maths, I think there is still a possibility to go down. So it’s not done yet.

“The reality is that usually 50 points gives safety almost every season. It looks good at the moment. It (relegation) would mean a lot of things going wrong for us and the rest of the teams picking up a lot of good results.

“Big credit to the players. We have been through a lot of difficult moments this season.

“I really enjoyed the expression of the team, the identity that we showed, playing attacking football and creating chances – this is what we want to see.”

Karamoko Dembele put QPR ahead by heading home Nicolas Madsen’s cross, before George Earthy equalised on the half-hour mark for play-off chasing City.

Both teams created chances during the second half but were unable to find another goal.

Ronnie Edwards was excellent again and Cifuentes was asked if he believes there is any prospect of the club keeping the on-loan Southampton defender.

The Spaniard replied: “I don’t know. We are just enjoying (him) and I think he’s enjoying as well.

“Let’s try to finish in a good way, these last four games, and then see what happens. For me, it’s not even in my mind.”