Celar had 'guts' to take penalty and miss - Cifuentes
- Published
QPR boss Marti Cifuentes has defended striker Zan Celar, saying only the players with guts to step up and take a penalty can miss one.
Celar shot wide from the spot in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Stoke City, meaning the Slovenian international is still searching for his first goal for the club moving to Loftus Road in the summer from Swiss side Lugano.
QPR are bottom of the table on 11 points and travel to 21st-placed Cardiff City on Wednesday in search of their first league win since August.
Cifuentes says he would have confidence in Celar to score from the spot next time his side are awarded a penalty.
"What I take from the penalty situation is only the ones who have the guts to take the penalty can miss it," he told 成人快手 Radio London.
"His penalty record is fantastic, the last time he missed a penalty [before Saturday] was almost three years ago.
"No-one asked me why he took a penalty in the [Carabao] Cup penalty shootout against Luton and he scored, as he does very often on the training ground, as he does in his career with around 80%, or even more, scoring goals from penalties.
"The reality is that he missed, we're going to try make sure that he can score the next one."