QPR boss Marti Cifuentes was reluctant to talk about Ilias Chair after a 2-1 victory at home to Rotherham lifted the west London side out of the Championship relegation zone.
Chair featured amid reports he faces a year in prison after being found guilty in Belgium of assault, but his club said in a statement on Friday that “the legal proceeding is yet to reach its conclusion”.
Asked about the playmaker’s inclusion, Cifuentes said: “I think the club made a very clear statement about the situation. I don’t want to comment much about this.
“He’s an available player and I’m happy for him – it was a very good performance and he’s a very important player for us.
“I’m very pleased about the team’s performance and that’s all I can say regarding Ilias.”
Chair teed up the winning goal for Chris Willock, whose 75th-minute strike secured three priceless points.
Tom Eaves’ early goal gave the division’s bottom side hope of a first away win since November 2022.
But the hosts turned it around in the second half, with Paul Smyth equalising before Willock fired home.
Cifenutes said: “I’m very happy for the guys and for the fans. Finally, after a lot of weeks in the bottom three, it’s something that’s a milestone mentally.
“At the same time, we need to keep very humble. We know that we have a very tough schedule in front of us, so we need to keep on pushing.
“But that shows the progress of the team. At half-time we made some adjustments and the second half was much better.
“All credit to the players because we put the ball on the ground in the second half, competed much better and I’m very pleased.”
Rotherham boss Leam Richardson felt tiredness was a factor in his side’s failure to hold on to their lead.
The Millers, beaten 4-3 at Ipswich in midweek, have now lost six matches in a row and are without a win in 10.
Richardson, who took over in December, said: “We’ve got an awful habit of taking games to people, going in front and then losing by one goal after not seeing a performance through.
“We’ve got a small squad and it looked like we ran out of legs a little bit, with travelling to Ipswich on Tuesday night and travelling back down here yesterday.
“Sometimes the Championship can catch up with you if you’re not bang at it and your fitness levels are not really high.
“Our lads put a lot in on Tuesday night and it’s very similar over the games I’ve been here – the performance levels are there to compete, we just need to turn that dial a bit to turn the draws into wins and losses into draws.
“I came into a situation which I knew and I’ve been trying to instil good habits. It’s important that we work hard and that we address certain things and move forward to be better as a football club.”
Plymouth Argyle 2-2 Watford: Two-goal Gray rescues point for Rooney's side
Andre Gray scored twice against his former club to salvage a point for struggling Plymouth Argyle as they drew 2-2 with Watford on Friday.
Gray curled in an equaliser in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time to seal a crucial point for Wayne Rooney's side in their bid for survival in the Championship.
The visitors made a quick start at Home Park when Ivorian striker Vakoun Bayo bundled in a cross from Yasser Larouci only eight minutes in.
Plymouth did, however, equalise against the run of play in the 23rd minute when Lewis Gibson's long ball into the box was met with a spectacular volley from Gray.
Watford regained the lead before the break when Imran Louza's free-kick was knocked back by Mattie Pollock, with centre-back Ryan Porteous on hand to steer the ball home.
But just as it looked like Watford would go home with all three points, Gray picked up the ball on the edge of the area and fired home a stunning effort beyond Daniel Bachmann.
Tom Cleverley's Watford sit in fifth place and trail leaders Sunderland by five points, while Plymouth are 17th with 17 points from 16 matches.
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
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