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QPR are 10 points clear of the relegation zone after beating Wigan at Loftus Road

Wigan Athletic remain in the Championship's bottom three as goals from Matt Smith and Conor Washington earned QPR victory at Loftus Road.

Washington crossed for Smith to sweep in Rangers' opener from 12 yards, his second goal in two games.

Omar Bogle levelled for the visitors, scoring from the penalty spot after he had been brought down by Joel Lynch.

Washington's finish from the edge of the area won it for Ian Holloway's men, who are 10 points above the drop zone.

Wigan, who had taken four points from their previous two matches without conceding a goal, would have moved out of the relegation zone with a win but they found QPR goalkeeper Alex Smithies in excellent form.

Smithies denied Bogle a second goal and kept out Jake Buxton efforts either side of half-time before Washington's winner.

Having struggled to find the net frequently under previous QPR boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, the former Newport and Peterborough striker has now scored four goals in six appearances for the west London club.

QPR manager Ian Holloway:

"We got an ugly win but the character has come and you can see that the lads are growing.

"The work-rate is there. They're all wearing the shirt with so much pride. Even if we had drawn that game I still would have been happy with their effort. I can't ask for any more from any one of them.

"We're getting that feeling that we can win games, and that's absolutely vital. We need a feeling that we can be good at this level and are moving forward."

Wigan Athletic boss Warren Joyce:

"They were two poor goals to concede. For the first goal we were wide open to a long kick down the middle. We did well to come back and were good value for the 1-1 at half-time.

"We were certainly under plenty of pressure from how direct they were. We know the lad (Matt Smith) wins a lot of balls in the air and that we had to get to the second ball.

"For the second goal we don't pick the second ball up - it's straight through on the back four.

"They were poor goals, not goals where you're carved open. The fitness and desire were there and we could have got an equaliser near the end."