‘I would play a game right now if I could’ – R’s head coach Cifuentes looks ahead to busy Christmas schedule

The late nature of QPR’s defeat at Sheffield Wednesday left Marti Cifuentes wanting to take on another game as soon as possible.

Rangers conceded twice in the closing stages to lose 2-1 at Hillsborough, meaning they missed the chance to escape the Championship relegation zone for the second time this week.

Cifuentes now has a full week to prepare for Southampton’s visit to Loftus Road after a run of seven games in three weeks since the last international break.

However the Spaniard could not immediately see the positives of more time on the training pitch ahead of another busy period ahead of the new year.

“When you lose a game like this you want to play immediately,” said Cifuentes. “If I could, I would play a game right now. That’s the way it is.

“We need to recover, it has been a tough week. We got four points when we wanted nine.

“We need to be very calm in the way we approach an intense period around Christmas.

“We need to prepare, recover well and make sure we are ready for the next challenge.

“The only positive thing we can take from today is that we will learn a lot. I will make sure that everybody in the squad, all of us, learn from this defeat. Obviously it’s a very painful one.”