Exclusive: Paul Smyth on replacing Willock & Armstrong, Marti Cifuentes exit talk, and QPR's 2024/25 hopes | OneFootball

Paul Smyth has been speaking exclusively with FLW

Highlights

QPR winger Paul Smyth has backed himself to step up to replace departed attacking duo Sinclair Armstrong and Chris Willock, with the help of his Hoops teammates, as the Loftus Road outfit look to kick on under Marti Cifuentes.

The R's head into 2024/25 without two key weapons from last term after Armstrong was sold to Bristol City in a reported £2.5 million deal and Willock left at the end of his contract to sign for Cardiff City.

Even so, there is plenty of optimism about what the West Londoners can achieve in the Spanish coach's first full campaign in the Championship on the back of the remarkable turnaround he inspired last season.

Many had written off the R's as already down when Cifuentes replaced Gareth Ainsworth at the end of October but he breathed new life into the club – helping them avoid relegation and finish the season in 18th place.

Replacing Chris Willock and Sinclair Armstrong

The hope is they can challenge in the other half of the table this season but they'll have to do so without two of their more exciting attacking players from last season.

Willock had shown his talent in spells in W12 – as his 20 goals and 22 assists in 144 appearances prove – but there was optimism that Cifuentes could help him discover more consistency. That he left to join a Championship rival with similar aspirations, and after months of rumours about a new deal, has left a bitter taste for some parts of the fanbase.

QPR triggered a one-year extension in Armstrong's contract in June but with his deal up next summer, they made the decision to cash in on Bristol City's interest to avoid losing him for nothing next term.

The 20-year-old forward has proven a nightmare for opposition defenders with his clever movement, pace, and power, and the R's boss will likely have been hoping to help him become a more reliable source of goals and assists moving forward.

Cifuentes must now adapt to life without the pair and, speaking exclusively to Football League World, via Copybet, Smyth suggested that their exits can be an opportunity for others in the squad.

"Fair play to them for getting their moves," he said. "They've deserved it. They move on and other people step up. I've got a chance, Ilias Chair's coming back as well. He's got his chance to do what he did last year again, Rayan Kolli's coming through, Alfie Lloyd is a young kid that is coming through as well.

"There's always a challenge there for us as players. So for me, it's just to keep consistent, do what I did last year, and just better myself this year."

Optimism ahead of Marti Cifuentes' first full season at Loftus Road

The departures of Armstrong and Willock have done little to dent the optimism and momentum that the R's squad have carried through the summer from last season.

Indeed, there appears to be a real excitement among the players about what they can achieve this year – though clearly Cifuentes has stressed that they must take 2024/25 game by game and not get ahead of themselves.

Smyth explained: "The momentum we built towards the back end of the season, finishing strong, was obviously a positive, and I think the boys are just excited to take that on to the season and then see how we how go.

"I think the ambition for us is just to take it step by step because you can't get on your high horse and push for all these things, and if you disappoint, then it's going to upset a lot of people.

"For us, it's just take it game by game and implement what we have. Find form and just kick on in the season. I think we're all really, really looking forward to the start of this season. The sooner comes the better for us and hopefully, we can find our form and momentum to move forward."

Defensively solidity was pivotal to the turnaround under Cifuentes last season but a lot of the work during pre-season has been focussed on developing a style of play that suits the Spanish coach's ideology.

"It's been a lot of football," Smyth revealed when quizzed on pre-season. "He wants to implement how he wants to play. He has had more time to implement his philosophy and the way he wants to play football.

"We've been adding to what we did towards the end of last season. Everyone has seen how defensively strong we were and teams found us very hard to break down.

"In pre-season, we've been working on going forward and finding passes, breaking lines, things like that. We've been working hard, a lot of running in there too, it's not just all been pretty football.

"All we can do is keep working and hopefully we can start the season strong with a nice win against West Brom."

As is the case with any manager that makes a splash in the EFL, Cifuentes was the subject of speculation early in the summer – with Burnley and Sunderland among the clubs linked as potential suitors.

But, according to Smyth, the dressing room always believed "100%" that he would lead them into the 2024/25 campaign.

"We didn't hear anything else," he said. "We just focused on the football and that's what he did. Nothing was spoken about, that was all in the papers and the news but you can't really trust it until something happens.

"It's the same as any other transfer with players. People talk but you wait until something actually happens and then then you deal with it. He's been here pre-season doing everything he wants to do and it's been a very positive pre-season so far."

QPR begin their Championship campaign at Loftus Road on Saturday as they host West Brom in a 12:30pm kick-off.