Impressed by the way the Blues have turned their season around and adapted to life in English football’s second tier, the QPR boss believes a trip to PO4 at this moment in time is ‘one of the most challenging’ fixtures you can get in the division.
Thirteenth-placed QPR travel to the south coast in the league for the first time since November 2010 today. There, they’ll take on a Pompey side currently sitting 18th in the standings and with a seven-point cushion on the relegation zone.
Both sides’ current positions are a far cry from the situation they found themselves back on October 19 – when John Mousinho’s side picked up their first win of the season at Loftus Road. Indeed, that victory allowed Pompey to climb off the bottom of the table and above the Rs.
Both have enjoyed a significant uplift in fortunes since as they continue to battle for Championship safety. And as Pompey go into today’s game looking to defend impressive home form that has enabled them to climb the standings, Cifuentes isn’t underestimating the task that lies in wait for his side at 3pm.
Paying Pompey huge credit, he told ealingtimes.co.uk: ‘They have been definitely improving, not only because they made, I think, some good, smart signings during the last winter, but as well, I think they start to perhaps have an even more clear identity’
‘It’s not easy for a team that did that well in League One, then suddenly to play Championship and perhaps the start was not the one that they wanted, but I think that now it’s very clear where they are strong, in which areas they are very strong – especially at home, they have been in incredible form.
‘We need to be ready for a game that is one of the most challenging that you can play at the moment in the Championship.’
Pompey’s victory at Loftus Road in October – their 10th league game of the season – proved hugely significant as it gave the Fratton Park players proof that they can compete and win in the Championship.
But it wasn’t until Preston North End’s visit to Fratton Park on November 9 that they truly believed that they were capable of surviving the step up from League One.
Since then Mousinho’s side have acquired 23 points from a possible 30 thanks to wins against the likes of Bristol City, Coventry, Middlesbrough and Stoke.
Millwall’s win at PO4 on January 28 was a real shock to the system, but since them the Blues held high-flying Burnley to a goalless draw and secured a hugely important win against relegation rivals Cardiff City.
Only league leaders Leeds boost a better home record than Pompey over the past 10 games. So Cifuentes is clearly correct in his prediction that one of the most challenging days awaits his side on the south coast this afternoon.
The onus is on the Blues now to live up to their growing reputation.
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