Queens Park Rangers head coach Marti Cifuentes was delighted with his team's winning performance on Tuesday night against a Hull City side he says have improved under compatriot Ruben Selles.

Cifuentes admitted coming up against Selles' Reading side in pre-season gave him a strong insight into what to expect from City, who came into the game on the back of a fine win at Millwall, while Rangers were winners by the same 1-0 scoreline at Plymouth Argyle, their third win in a row.

Two goals in six second half minutes from Kenneth Paal and Koki Saito were enough for Rangers to claim a fourth straight win and move to within four points of the top six in what is their highest Championship position for two years, despite Joe Gelhardt pulling a goal back late on with a stunning volley from outside the box.

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"I'm delighted; it was a difficult pitch to play football on, against a team who have improved a lot and are difficult to play against," the Spaniard said, bemoaning the quality of the MKM Stadium playing surface.

"But the guys are working with a togetherness that makes things very difficult for me (to pick a team). Credit to the subs. They are putting me in a difficult situation in the week because everybody is training at a high level.

"We spoke before the game about how, in a week like this where we've been away to Plymouth and away to Hull, the contribution of the players not starting will be very important. We understood the game very well. The way Hull press and the way they set up, you need to find the right way to build up and not get punished.

"We learned a lot from the game that we played against Reading in the pre-season, where Ruben had a very similar set-up there and what he's doing here. We found some situations slowly, and then, in the second half, we found the key to really accelerating the game and the accuracy of taking our chances. It was top quality, and he (Saito) really deserves it. I'm sure this will help his confidence to be the player we know can score goals.

"Obviously, it was not easy (after Gelhardt's strike) - they went to play with two strikers, put more pressure on and went a bit more direct. Credit to the guys. In this league, you need to grind results out. Some moments will be difficult and the way we managed was very good."