QPR boss Marti Cifuentes insists he never doubted Chris Willock would rediscover his best form.
The rejuvenated Willock scored the opener in Rangers’ 2-0 win at home to Hull – a thumping strike from near the edge of the penalty area.
It was his third goal in as many matches and his team’s third win in a row.
They have lost just one of their six matches since Cifuentes replaced the sacked Gareth Ainsworth.
Previously Rangers’ talisman, Willock was shunned by Ainsworth while fellow playmaker Ilias Chair, who scored the all-important second goal against the Tigers, also found the going tough under the former boss.
“He (Willock) showed the quality he has. But I’m not surprised – I said from day one that Chris and Ilias will be very important for us,” said Cifuentes.
“I’m pleased about Chris recovering a smile, because I felt he was a bit low on confidence.
“That was very natural when a player has not been playing for a while. Now he is playing at a level where it’s not easy to take the ball from him and he’s also working hard when we don’t have the ball.
“He’s starting to be decisive for us in the last third and I think he is a player that, with his quality and potential, he can score more than he has done earlier in his career.”
Asked how he has helped Willock get back to his best, Cifuentes replied: “Give him minutes and give him confidence. And give him game scenarios where we think he is going to be good.
“It’s not a secret. If you have good players and you put them on the ball and put them high up the pitch, then things are going to happen. When those players are close to the goal it’s difficult to stop them.”
Hull boss Liam Rosenior admitted his team were punished for their mistakes.
Willock’s goal, scored in first-half stoppage time, came after the visitors had lost possession.
Back-to-back defeats have seen the Tigers drop out of the play-off places following an excellent start to the campaign.
And Rosenior said: “We’ve made a lot of progress, but the next step for this team is to be pragmatic in key moments and understand the context of the game.
“At that point of the game we had complete control and then gave them a goal. It was a great finish from Willock but it comes from our possession.
“A goal just before half-time changes everything in terms of QPR’s confidence levels and energy from the crowd.”
The second goal came after Hull keeper Ryan Allsop had been pressured by Sinclair Armstrong, with Willock collecting the resulting loose ball and teeing up Chair for a cool finish.
Rosenior said: “I ask my team to play, but at that moment we’re on top – just kick the ball and if it goes out for a throw-in then we reorganise and get control of the game again.
“What I will never do is blame players for mistakes. But what I will do is demand from them that we learn from the mistakes.
“There’s so much good in the way we play, if we iron out those mistakes then we’re in a really good place.
“This is the understanding of where we are as a team. We’re a young team that have to learn on the job. But the basis of our play is very good.”
Leverkusen star Wirtz named Bundesliga Player of the Year
Florian Wirtz played a starring role for Bayer Leverkusen this season and has been named the Bundesliga Player of the Year.
Wirtz scored 11 goals and provided a further 11 assists on the way to helping Leverkusen win their first-ever top-flight title.
The forward was pivotal in Leverkusen’s title charge as they became the first German team to complete an unbeaten season.
Only Victor Boniface has scored more goals than Wirtz this campaign, netting 14 times, while his tally of 11 assists is second only to Alejandro Grimaldo (13) across the Bundesliga.
Wirtz came off the bench to score a hat-trick in Leverkusen’s 5-0 win over Werder Bremen in April which clinched the title with five games remaining.
The Bundesliga champions still have the German Cup final on Saturday against Kaiserslautern, which follows the Europa League final against Atalanta on Wednesday.
Wirtz played a critical role in helping Leverkusen reach their third European final, having been involved in eight goals in the Europa League this season (four goals, four assists), the most of any player in the team.
He has also created 28 chances from open play in the competition, a tally only five players can better in a Europa League campaign, most recently Amin Younes for Ajax in 2016-17 (30).
In all competitions, Leverkusen’s unbeaten run stretches to 51 matches, as they aim to finish an unbeaten season with a treble.
Kane injury doubt for England Euro 2024 squad
Harry Kane may be a doubt for England’s Euro 2024 squad as he continues to struggle with a back problem.
Gareth Southgate is due to name his preliminary squad for Euro 2024 on Tuesday, ahead of upcoming friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland.
The England captain missed the final two Bundesliga games of the season after going off towards the end of Bayern Munich’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid.
Thomas Tuchel confirmed prior to their final match against Hoffenheim that Kane was back in England to undergo treatment.
When later asked again about the nature of the striker’s injury, Tuchel admitted that Kane had been struggling for a couple of weeks.
"In Madrid, it was borderline. We tried injections and treatments. The back has completely closed.
"It has gotten worse and kept breaking out in small, everyday movements. There's no chance he's even training."
Kane scored 36 league goals in his debut campaign for Bayern, though due to the injury, he finished five adrift of Robert Lewandowski’s single-season goal record of 41, set in 2019-20.
The final announcement of Southgate's 26-man squad will be revealed on June 7, ahead of the tournament opener against Serbia on June 16.
Pochettino prioritising continuity as Chelsea draw up transfer plans
Mauricio Pochettino feels continuity will be key for Chelsea ahead of his second season in charge, ruling out the prospect of another clear-out at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea clinched European qualification on the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday, a 2-1 win over Bournemouth ensuring they beat Newcastle United and Manchester United to sixth place.
The Blues finished the campaign with five straight victories, the first time they have achieved that feat since doing so in March 2022 under Thomas Tuchel.
A positive end to Pochettino's debut campaign has quietened talk of his job being under threat, and he wants to see evolution rather than revolution ahead of 2024-25.
"Does the club need new signings? Always, you can improve," Pochettino said after Sunday's victory.
"They are going to be much better next season because they will have one year of experience, a tough experience.
"That is the advantage of being solid and consistent and not making too many changes.
"Next season, if we keep 80 to 85 per cent of the squad, for sure it is a big step forward because it is about having continuity in the ideas and the knowledge between them. That is important for the club.
"That is a club decision. Like it was from the beginning, we [the coaching staff] are going to be there to help and if not, we are going to do our job."
Chelsea only lost one of their final 15 matches of the Premier League season (nine wins, five draws), with that defeat coming by a 5-0 scoreline at Arsenal in April.
Only Manchester City, Arsenal (16 each) and Liverpool (12) won more Premier League games than Chelsea's 10 between the turn of the year and the end of the campaign, with their total of 43 goals in that time ranking them fifth among all teams in the division.
Chelsea's overall tally of 77 goals in 2023-24 was their third-most in a Premier League season, behind only their title-winning campaigns of 2009-10 (103) and 2016-17 (85).
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