Neil Warnock hails character of QPR team after narrow win

QPR manager Neil Warnock praised the character of his players after the league leaders scraped to a 1-0 win over Leicester at Loftus Road yesterday.

Ishmael Miller snatched victory two minutes from time and Warnock said: "You've got players like Heidar Helguson and Adel Taarabt, who hadn't trained because they were ill, and Wayne Routledge, who went home from training with antibiotics but rang me to say he wanted to play. Lads like that show the character in the squad."

Swansea stay second, eight points off the leaders, despite slipping to a 1-0 defeat against Scunthorpe. Joe Garner's penalty condemned them to only their second defeat in nine games, but rivals Cardiff missed the chance to go second as they slipped to a 2-0 home loss to Ipswich, for whom Jimmy Bullard struck twice. Norwich manager Paul Lambert saw his side held to a 1-1 draw by bottom side Preston. After Grant Holt had equalised Chris Brown's opener for North End, Wes Hoolahan's chipped penalty was easily saved by Iain Turner.

Nottingham Forest saw their 36-match unbeaten run at the City Ground come to an end with a 1-0 loss against Hull, for whom Matty Fryatt scored.

Leeds joined QPR as the only winners from among the top six as Simon Grayson's men eased to a 5-2 win over Doncaster, while Burnley are seventh after Jay Rodriguez's goal lifted them to a 1-0 win against Crystal Palace.

Portsmouth made it six wins on the bounce, beating Sheffield United 1-0, while Coventry slumped to a 4-1 loss at home to Bristol City. Reading beat Middlesbrough 5-2, Watford saw off Millwall 1-0, and Derby and Barnsley drew 0-0 at Pride Park.