Martí: Reading test was good preparation
MARTÍ Cifuentes believes QPR’s pre-season friendly with Reading has provided his squad with good preparation ahead of the new campaign.
Rangers went down 1-0 to the Royals, with Femi Azeez scoring the only goal of the game at the Select Car Leasing Stadium just after the interval.
Alfie Lloyd, Paul Smyth and Michael Frey all had chances during the first half for the visitors while Rayan Kolli saw an excellent goal ruled out for offside in the second period, with Smyth again going close later in the game.
“This was a very good test for us and we can learn a lot from this game,” Cifuentes said.
“It was good preparation for what can happen in the Championship.
“I said to the guys we got clear chances and we only conceded one shot on our goal, which was from one of our mistakes.
“That’s how the game works. It is not about being nicer or better, it is about showing it in the score and today we didn’t show the difference in the quality.
“We can take a lot of positives in the sense that we played against a very specific way of playing because Reading were so aggressive.
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“They weren’t perhaps very interested in having a lot of possession but about counter pressing, about trying to be very high in the pitch, and there were lots of breaks and lots of free-kicks.
“I could see the frustration of our players, especially in the last 20 minutes, and we have to be better than that.
“It was a good test and to learn that mistakes count a lot – today we made one, and that is why we lost the game because we had enough chances to win.”
Cifuentes said he wants to see a more clinical side to his team in the final third, adding: “I am critical with ourselves, about how much we need to improve to kill the game.
“We had chances in the first half with Alfie Lloyd and the crossbar with Smythy, the header from Michael Frey. We need to score those and then it is a gamechanger, of course.”
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