Portsmouth rival 'confident' he can turn fortunes as Liverpool treble winner linked with QPR job

Under-pressure Championship manager Marti Cifuentes remains confident that he can turn Queens Park Rangers’ fortunes around in the coming weeks despite a dismal start to the season.

As it stands, the West London outfit are deep in Championship relegation trouble with one win, seven draws and seven defeats from their opening 15 games. 

Their tally of 12 goals makes them the lowest scorers in the division while they have also shipped 25 goals which gives them the joint fourth worst defence behind Portsmouth, Luton Town and Plymouth Argyle.

QPR were no match for the relentless pressure of promotion favourites Leeds United as they slipped to the bottom of the Championship table after Portsmouth’s crucial 3-1 victory over Preston at Fratton Park. Cifuentes was credited with inspiring a miraculous great escape after replacing Gareth Ainsworth at the start of last season but is now one of the favourites to lose his job in the coming weeks.

Former Liverpool defender Gregory Vignal, who played a small part in Gerard Houllier’s treble winning team in 2001 before also spending a season at Fratton Park in 2005/06, is thought to be among the contenders to take over at Loftus Road, but Cifuentes insists he still has the full support of the board heading into the international break and is adamant he can turn things around as a number of key players work their way back from injury.

“I receive a lot of confidence from the club and I work as always,” he told London Football News when asked about his position. I’ve not been saying much about it (the injury problems) but we are approaching the international break and the main priority now is to recover players,” Cifuentes said.

“We’ve got nine players out. Nine. With a squad like ours, it’s very difficult, especially when many of those players are very important. Is it an excuse? No. We need to do better, compete better and get more from games.” The players are showing that they really want to try and really want to turn the situation around. It’s in our hands to turn the situation around. The important thing is that we’re now going to get some time to recover some players and that’s for me the main target.”

QPR are one of just two teams that Portsmouth have beaten since their promotion back to the second tier. Pompey face top-half opposition in Blackburn Rovers, Millwall and Swansea City in a challenging end to November.

Meanwhile, QPR gear up for a home clash with Stoke City before a crucial bottom of the table clash with Cardiff City - they then end the month with a trip to rivals Watford. Portsmouth are scheduled to play host to QPR at the end of February in a match which could have a huge influence on the landscape of the relegation battle.