CARDIFF manager Dave Jones was left frustrated as his side’s automatic promotion hopes were dented by a 2-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Robert Earnshaw’s close-range strike after 67 minutes won it for Forest after Peter Whittingham’s penalty for Cardiff had equalised Wes Morgan’s first-half header.
The win lifts Forest up to second, five points behind leaders QPR with a game in hand, while the Cardiff slipped to fourth, six points adrift of Rangers.
QPR saw their lead at the top of the table cut as they were held to a 1-1 draw at basement boys Preston.
Heidar Helguson opened the scoring for Rangers in the first half but Barry Nicholson equalised after 64 minutes.
Swansea moved above bitter rivals Cardiff and into third thanks to a 3-0 win over Doncaster.
The two other sides in the play-off places, Leeds Utd and Norwich, drew 2-2 at Elland Road.
Davide Somma came off the bench and scored with his first touch to snatch a point for the hosts.
Leeds had taken a 16th-minute lead through Luciano Becchio’s header only for Norwich to hit back through Henri Lansbury and Wes Hoolahan.
Elsewhere, Crystal Palace beat relegation rivals Sheffield Utd 1-0, Middlesbrough won 3-2 at Millwall and Portsmouth were 1-0 winners over Barnsley. Ipswich drew 1-1 at home to Hull, Reading drew 1-1 at home to Watford and the match between Scunthorpe and Derby ended goalless.
