Queens Park Rangers-Swansea City Preview
Swansea City need a victory to get their Premier League campaign back on track as they face Queens Park Rangers at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday evening.
The Swans (5-4-4) were held to a 1-1 draw at home against Crystal Palace on Saturday and have dropped out of the top six after claiming just two wins in 10 league matches.
Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Bony fired Swansea in front after 15 minutes with his sixth goal in seven games before Palace skipper Mile Jedinak equalised from the penalty spot 10 minutes later after Jonjo Shelvey was adjudged to have fouled Marouane Chamakh in the area. The home side created the better chances in the second half but couldn't force a victory.
Swansea manager Garry Monk was disappointed not to have beaten the Eagles but satisfied with his side's overall display.
"We wanted the three points," Monk told reporters after the match. "We started very well, were in the ascendancy and got a good goal. I'm disappointed to concede the equaliser purely because of the lead up to the corner. It was a mistake to give the ball away and the penalty came from there.
"We had our chances today, but we knew it would be difficult. But the performance was very good. We performed well. It's a point, so we will go again on Tuesday to get three points."
Rangers (3-2-8) moved off the bottom of the table after rallying from a goal down to beat fellow strugglers Leicester City 3-2 at Loftus Road on Saturday.
Esteban Cambiasso gave Leicester an early lead before the Hoops drew level on 37 minutes when Foxes centre-back Wes Morgan put through his own net. Dutch midfielder Leroy Fer scored from close range to give the R's the lead on the stroke of halftime. Although Jeffrey Schlupp equalised for the visitors midway through the second half, in-form striker Charlie Austin secured three valuable points for Harry Redknapp's side when he scored his fifth goal in five games in the 73rd minute.
"It was a great game, end to end, but I'm just delighted we've come out winners," Redknapp told his club's official website. "Conceding early was a blow, but I thought we stuck at it brilliantly and some of the football we played was great to watch. It was a really great game of football.
"We showed so much character today, that's something we've got in abundance here. We need to start picking points up away from home, we know that. I'm confident we can do that and when we do we'll be okay."
Rangers are in 18th place with 11 points from 13 matches and every point was secured in home matches. They have struggled badly on the road and lost all their six away league matches this season.
Swansea City will be without Argentina defender Federico Fernandez because of a calf injury. QPR midfielder Sandro will be sidelined until at least the new year with a knee injury, while Adel Taarabt (groin) and Alejandro Faurlin (knee) are also unavailable.
The Swans did the double over Rangers in spectacular style when they last met in the Premier League during the 2012/13 campaign, winning 5-0 in west London and 4-1 back home in Wales.
