Swansea City 0-1 Queens Park Rangers: Dykes all but ends Swans' top-two hopes

Queens Park Rangers captain Yoann Barbet was okay to play on despite this heavy first-half fall

Swansea City's slim automatic promotion hopes were all but wiped out after Lyndon Dykes' last-minute winner for Queens Park Rangers.

Dykes steered home to give QPR victory and leave Swansea needing a miracle to overhaul second-placed Watford.

Watford's win at Norwich means Steve Cooper's side are nine points behind the Hornets with three games to play.

Wayne Routledge hit the post for the hosts, while Ilias Chair twice hit the woodwork for Rangers.

Rangers climb to eighth after they deservedly secured a second successive away win.

Swansea had revived their top-two bid by taking seven points from three games ahead of Rangers' visit.

Mark Warburton's team have little to play for in the final weeks of the season with relegation concerns long extinguished thanks to their impressive form in the second half of the campaign.

But it was hard to tell who was competing for what as Swansea suffered a setback which leaves them heading for the play-offs.

Routledge, leading the home line in the absence of the injured Andre Ayew, was twice denied by last-ditch blocks, first from Yoann Barbet and then when Rob Dickie diverted his shot onto the post.

At the other end Chair bundled one effort onto the far post, then looked odds-on to score when he went through on goal only for the onrushing Freddie Woodman to turn his low shot onto the upright.

Joe Lumley saved well from Korey Smith while Routledge's touch let him down when he was one-on-one with the Rangers keeper, who was back in the side with Seny Dieng suspended.

The Hoops came again in an incident-packed first half, with Dykes volleying narrowly wide and Osman Kakay driving over the bar.

Goalscoring opportunities dried up after the break, particularly for a Swansea side who may have been affected by the news - which came through at half-time - that Watford had beaten the leaders.

Rob Dickie deflects Wayne Routledge's shot onto the post

Rangers always looked the more likely winners, with Chris Willock seeing one shot blocked and another pawed out by Woodman.

Their control of the contest was eventually rewarded when Albert Adomah fed Dykes in the penalty area and he netted for the sixth time in seven games.

Swansea, whose goal difference is considerably worse than Watford's, must now refocus on the likely prospect of a second successive crack at the play-offs.

Swansea head coach Steve Cooper:

"Missed chances first half have ended up costing us. If somebody said we would create that many good chances in one half we'd have been happy and expected to at least taken one.

"Second half we didn't manage to create as much because we didn't manage the ball and the game as much.

"When you do that you give up territory and allow QPR to get into areas where they end up scoring."

Cooper on automatic promotion:

"Technically we are not (out of the running) but it's a mammoth task now and we obviously haven't helped ourselves tonight.

"We have just got to make sure we win the next game. There are three left and unless we win games nothing can happen."

QPR manager Mark Warburton:

"We know Swansea are a very good footballing team and fighting hard for automatic promotion and the play-off places.

"We had to come here and impose ourselves, but we were tentative in the first 15 to 20 minutes. But we had some good chances at the end of the first half and I thought we deserved the win in the end.

"We were playing well before Christmas and couldn't score for fun. Second half of the season we've responded really well.

"I hate this mid-table mediocrity nonsense. It's your responsibility to hunt down every point when you pull the shirt on. We've moved to eighth tonight and we want to finish strongly."