QPR boss Marti Cifuentes was pleased to come out on top against a “dangerous” Rovers side at Loftus Road.

Cifuentes was wary of Rovers’ “quality” but felt his side ultimately deserved the three points to gain some ground on the play-off pack.

The head coach opted to play Ilias Chair in a central role and felt it gave his side an “advantage” in possession.

“It is a great feeling, especially because we played against a good team. I think we played at a really high level for almost all of the game so I am pleased with the victory,” he told the club channels.

“We played against a team who was dangerous every time they could be, in the last third especially. You could see they have got quality so, despite us taking the lead, they (hit the) crossbar afterwards.

“That is the reason they are up there, they have got good players and a good coach. But overall in the first half, I think we were very dominant.

“We created a lot of chances and it was not easy. They play very direct, they have the player at the top who is difficult to stop with his physicality, they won a lot of second balls.

“The advantage of playing Kieran and Illy in midfield was in possession, but then there is a challenge we had to solve.

“Both of them worked really hard to try to balance this. I am very pleased about the output attacking-wise, especially in the first 45 minutes.”

Cifuentes admitted that his side didn’t start the second half well, with Tyrhys Dolan equalising from the penalty spot, but hailed his players’ response to bounce back and find a winner.

“The start of the second half was not as good as we would like,” he reflected. “Credit to Blackburn, they really pushed and then got a penalty.

“After the penalty, emotionally it was not easy but the guys showed once again there is resilience.

“I know the Championship can turn very quickly in terms of the emotions and how quickly games can change. The guys picked themselves back up and the substitutes were brilliant.”