Lucas Andersen’s sensational strike saw QPR snatch a late 2-1 victory at Preston in the Sky Bet Championship.

The Dane came off the bench and found the top corner from range in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

Liam Lindsay had headed the hosts in front with his first goal of the campaign in the final moments of an energetic first half before Michael Frey’s leveller in the 80th minute.

Both teams came into this clash with the slimmest possibility of relegation and the win for QPR mathematically ensures they will stay in the division for another season.

Preston started with real zip and Stefan Thordarson should have opened the scoring in the fourth minute but he headed Ben Whiteman’s cross straight at Paul Nardi.

The Rs should have scored seven minutes later as Yang Min-hyeok ran through having been slipped in by Koki Saito, only to be denied by a sprawling Dai Cornell.

Yang was in again soon after having been released by Nicolas Madsen but he dragged his shot wide.

Play had to be stopped for five minutes as Saito was carried off on a stretcher with what looked like a shoulder injury and the home faithful paid their respects with warm applause.

That incident led to six minutes of first-half stoppage time and, in the fifth of those, Lindsay became a spare man in the box and made no mistake as he met Robbie Brady’s cross with a clinical header across Nardi.

Rayan Kolli, who came on for Saito in the 41st minute, almost equalised at the start of the second half, playing a part in an intricate team move before acrobatically firing Ronnie Edwards’ delivery wide from point-blank range.

The visitors started to dominate without really creating too much and Kolli was causing problems with his movement, shifting inside the box and forcing Jordan Storey into a good block on the hour.

After soaking up a lot of pressure, North End nearly doubled their lead but Sam Greenwood’s goal-bound effort was bravely blocked by a recovering Edwards after Mads Frokjaer found the Leeds loanee free in the box.

However, as has been the case on multiple occasions this season, Preston became the victims of late second-half drama as Frey pounced on a loose ball in the box before swivelling and beating Cornell with a controlled half-volley.

Then, incredibly, there was even more late drama as Andersen robbed Frokjaer before hitting a 30-yard thunderbolt past Cornell in the final moments to snatch QPR victory.