QPR boss Marti Cifuentes explains tactical decisions in Sheffield Wednesday loss

Sinclair Armstrong made his first QPR start under Marti Cifuentes at Sheffield Wednesday to try and exploit the strugglers’ high defensive line.

The Republic of Ireland international had previously featured exclusively as a substitute for Cifuentes before Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Hillsborough.

Armstrong was taken off at half-time alongside right back Reggie Cannon as QPR gave up a 1-0 lead to end a four-game unbeaten run.

“We wanted to start with Armstrong because we know about his pace,” explained Cifuentes. “Sheffield Wednesday is a team that risk a lot by pressing very high and very aggressive as we saw in many minutes of the game.

“We wanted his pace to be able to go in behind because we know that if you press a lot you can leave some spaces in behind.

“The way we activated him and [Paul] Smyth was not the best today so at half-time we thought we needed players that could keep the ball a little bit better.”

Cannon was replaced at the interval after receiving a first-half yellow card, yet rather than replace him directly with fellow full-back Osman Kakay, Cifuentes opted to move midfielder Elijah Bonner-Dixon into an unfamiliar position.

The Rangers head coach explained that this was to try and ensure his team kept hold of possession as they tried to hang on to their lead.

“We wanted to keep the ball more and have a little extra quality on the ball, keep longer sequences on the ball,” said Cifuentes.

“Elijah is a player that has the physicality to cope in different positions. I think he did a good job.

“[Barry] Bannan was dropping a lot and getting the ball a lot and in the first half Elijah managed to keep control of him well.

“We wanted to be more aggressive with our pressure and Elijah has the capacity to press higher on the midfield.”