Swansea 1-1 QPR: Daily Mirror match report

Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers accused ref Lee Probert of denying his side victory after turning down a late penalty shout even his QPR opposite number Neil Warnock admitted was a stonewaller.

David Graham had given Swansea the first-half lead against the club who tried to sign him in the summer.

Rangers, with the recalled Adel Taarabt oustanding on his recall to the side, equalised after the break through Jamie Mackie.

But Warnock's side should have suffered a fourth consecutive defeat after Armand Traore clattered into Graham after 73 minutes only for FIFA official Probert to wave play on.

"I thought it was a clear penalty," insisted Rogers. "Danny has bent his run perfectly, arrived into the ball, got a touch and Traore has made the foul.

"Normally in the box with the referee so close, and with it being directly in line with the assistant, that is a penalty. But it probably summed up Lee's performance which was interesting to say the least.

"I like Lee. He is a good lad and on the circuit and trying to get experience but he was very, very inconsistent throughout the game. For sure we would have won if we had been awarded the penalty.

"Scott Sinclair hasn't missed a penalty yet and I felt we were deserving of that."

Warnock insisted Graham had used his arm to control the ball before curling home his 13th-minute goal around his static defenders.

But even the Yorkshireman saw the funny side of Probert's performance at the end of the game - although the Wiltshire official could have sent off Rangers' Joey Barton for a late lunge on Jazz Richards.

"I said to Brendan at the end, 'I hope that it is the most stonewall penalty you will ever see in the second half,'" Warnock smiled. "We had a good laugh about it.

"How would I describe his performance? My word was consistent. I usually get fined if I used something else. I hope it was the most certain penalty ever. It looked it from our place."

Probert, who even got in the way to farcically tackle a furious Barton in the second half, joins the ever-growing list of refs to have blundered over the festive period.

"It's the big, match-winning decisions that we want to get right," Warnock continued. "We want goal-line technology to come in and help referees and linesmen eliminate mistakes but they have to know the rules.

"It's hard to take and it was like a kick in the teeth at half-time but if anything it actually spurred us on. We stopped feeling sorry for ourselves and had a go at them in the second half."

After conceding 17 goals in the last eight games, Warnock dropped his two centre-backs to the bench and played Fitz Hall and Clint Hill behind a seasonal Christmas tree formation.

But his new-look rearguard failed to deal with former Ranger Wayne Routledge's cross and Graham, who held talks with Warnock in the summer about a move from Watford before opting to join the Swans instead, slotted home his sixth goal in 11 matches.

"The referee said he saw the handball but it wasn't deliberate," Warnock claimed. "That disappoints me even more."

Graham responded: "It definitely was not deliberate (handball)."

An ankle injury to Angel Rangel at the start of the second half forced Rogers into a reshuffle - and a resurgent Rangers equalised two minutes later.

Leon Britton could only head Paddy Kenny's long clearance towards his own goal and Mackie nipped to chest the ball down and slot home under Michel Vorm for his second goal in a week.

It was only the third goal Swansea have conceded at home all season.

After the hosts dominated the first half, QPR enjoyed the best of the play after the break and a draw was a fair result.

Taarabt, starting his first match since October 30 in place of Shaun Wright-Phillips, showed what QPR will now be missing when he disappears on African Cup of Nations duty for Morocco after the FA Cup third round.

But both clubs are not winning enough games - Swansea have now won one in eight and QPR only one in nine - to remain hovering above the drop zone.

Rogers' side extended their run at the Fortress Liberty Stadium to only one defeat in 17 league matches but Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea are their next three visitors.

* Barton has even more pressing business - he tweeted after the game that he was rushing to hospital to be with his wife as she gives birth to their first child.