MARTI CIFUENTES claims his QPR side were always going to be up against it last night given that Middlesbrough were able to name a striker worth an eight-figure fee on the substitutes’ bench.

Boro kicked off with Tommy Conway in their starting line-up as they triumphed at Loftus Road, but were able to bring on Emmanuel Latte Lath in the closing stages, with the Ivorian scoring the third goal in his side’s 4-1 win.

Earlier this summer, Latte Lath was the subject of strong transfer interest from Ipswich Town, who were willing to pay more than £10m in order to sign the centre-forward.

Boro turned down Ipswich’s final offer on deadline day, and Cifuentes feels the fact Boro could afford to leave such a prime asset on the bench highlights the strength of the squad at Michael Carrick’s disposal, and exposes the gulf separating the Teessiders from QPR.

“At half-time, we spoke about how scoring the next goal would give us a chance,” said the QPR boss. “We put more and more pressure on them in the second half, got the first goal, but then had to take more and more risk to get the second.

“Then, they bring a very, very good player off the bench who cost £4m to sign and is now (valued much higher), and they punished us on the counter.

“It’s a situation we knew could happen as we had to risk to get back into the match. After this, it’s kind of over. All the goals we conceded were disappointing and we have to defend better.”

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Boro went into last night’s match having won just one of their previous five matches, but Cifuentes felt that record was not a realistic reflection of Boro’s qualities.

The QPR boss regards Carrick’s side as one of the best teams in the Championship, and fully expects them to be challenging for promotion come the end of the season.

“I think we had some good moments against a very, very good team,” he said. “I think Middlesbrough is a team that is underperforming as far as results are concerned.

“They are playing good football, doing a lot of good things and creating a lot of chances in their games. But they were not getting results.

“Today, they got that right. I think, first half, they only had two shots and two goals. They’ve got good quality and today they were able to finish actions. Of course, for us it’s very disappointing.”