'I won't throw anyone under the bus' - Swans boss Sheehan

Malick Yalcouye has made 11 appearances for Swansea, but now faces a three-match ban

Alan Sheehan said he would "not throw anyone under the bus" after Malick Yalcouye was sent off in Swansea City's 1-0 home defeat to Queens Park Rangers.

Yalcouye was dismissed 11 minutes before half-time after a clash with Rangers defender Steve Cook.

Veteran centre-back Cook confronted Yalcouye after the on-loan Brighton teenager went down in the QPR penalty area.

The two players then squared up before Yalcouye appeared to push his head into Cook's, who tumbled to the ground.

Swansea head coach Sheehan said Yalcouye was "devastated" over the dismissal, which leaves him facing a three-match ban.

"Obviously we suffered from that - it changes the game," Sheehan said.

"It makes it an uphill battle. I think you see a young 19-year-old lad up against a very, very experienced player and I think that's the way it happened.

"Obviously Steve Cook and Malik came together, he (Yalcouye) has been enticed and he (Cook) went down like he got hit by an absolute truck."

Yalcouye's dismissal was a heavy blow to a Swansea side who were already trailing to Rumarn Burrell's early goal.

Sheehan's team stayed in the contest, thanks in part to some wayward Rangers finishing as well as some fine goalkeeping from Lawrence Vigouroux, and threatened to salvage a point when Zan Vipotnik went close late on.

Sheehan suggested Yalcouye and Cook had "stuck their heads together" in the red card incident, while Hoops boss Julien Stephan said he had not seen what happened.

"The reaction of jumping back, that's an experienced player doing what has to be done and we've suffered from that tonight," Sheehan added.

"But look, Malik is a young player. We have him on loan from Brighton and he's a talent and we've suffered from that tonight, but I'm not going to throw anybody under the bus or anything.

"This is just a learning curve and he'll get better for it."

The Rangers defeat means Swansea are down to 16th in the Championship having won only once in seven league matches.

Sheehan's team are back in action at home on Saturday when they face a Norwich City side who have dropped into the bottom three having taken only one point from their past six games.