Clint Hill has revealed Chelsea players believe QPR can escape the drop.
The Rs left-back might have raised an eyebrow when told this shortly after the 1-0 home defeat a week back, but they were convincing enough, and the 36-year-old veteran has been around long enough to know when he is being fed a line.
“A few of the Chelsea players said to us if we carry on like that we’ll be fine. I don’t want to name names, but if we keep fighting we’ll stay up is what they said.
“In a roundabout way it’s a kind of a comfort. You try and take the positives out of it,” he added.
Hill reckons relegation is down to three from the current last five that includes Hoops, Hull, Sunderland, Burnley and Leicester, with Rs hoping for one of three wins starting at home to West Ham on Saturday.
“Points wise you would think it was the last five,” he said.
“But we’re in a different position now, physically and mentally from where we were when beaten by West Ham earlier in the season, and the fans appreciate what we put in against Chelsea.
“Look at the bench they’ve got. It’s full of million pound players, and we had three young kids. There’s a massive gulf. They had one chance and took it. But we’re at the stage where you have to think you can do it.”
Against Chelsea, Rs fans sang ‘It’s just like watching Clint Hill’ to the tune of ‘it’s just like watching Brazil.’
Ever the modest, Hill gratefully downplayed the adulation.
“There’s a bit of irony in that: I don’t think I would like to watch myself,” he joked. “But I’ve said how much the club means to me. My boy walks round with his QPR top on.
“And whether you stay or go, you want to leave the club in a better place than you found it.”
Keep up to date with all the build-up, matchday and post-game reaction to QPR v West Ham right here on GetWestLondon
