Stephen Hughes struck a late winner to hand managerless Leicester a crucial three points in their fight against relegation.

Dan Shittu's 82nd-minute equaliser looked to have earned QPR a point after Richard Stearman had put Leicester 2-1 up, but Hughes' 88th-minute effort gave caretaker-boss Rob Kelly victory in his first Coca-Cola Championship match since replacing the sacked Craig Levein.

The game looked to be heading for a 1-1 draw thanks to first-half goals from Gareth Ainsworth and Matty Fryatt, but the game exploded into life, with the final three goals coming in the last 11 minutes to give Leicester only their second away win in the league this term.

Kelly's team - who won at Loftus Road for the first time since September 1986 - made the worst possible start to the match by going behind in the sixth minute.

Richard Langley played the ball left to Lee Cook, who was allowed the time and space to pick out Ainsworth, who had moved into the penalty area from the right and rose unchallenged to head into Rab Douglas' top-right corner from 10 yards.

Leicester looked dispirited - but they were gifted an equaliser four minutes later thanks to some awful Rangers defending.

Fryatt shook off Marcus Bignot on the left and got the better of Shittu inside the penalty area before firing past Simon Royce from eight yards.

In the 20th minute, Joey Gudjonsson robbed the dawdling Langley in midfield and fed Fryatt on the right.

The former Walsall player curled over a fine cross that Royce did well to push away from danger.

Neither defence looked comfortable, and in the 27th minute Alan Maybury cleared the ball from under his own bar after Paul Furlong had beaten keeper Douglas to another Cook cross.

Maybury was involved at the other end six minutes before half-time, striking a sweet effort that drew another smart stop from Royce.

Cook was proving QPR's main creative source, and in the 42nd minute he swung over a free-kick from the right that Furlong headed goalwards but that was deflected narrowly wide.

The game appeared to be going nowhere, until Leicester substitute James Wesolowski sent over a perfect right-wing cross for the unmarked Stearman to volley past Royce from five yards, 11 minutes from the end.

Three minutes later, Leicester were pegged back when Shittu headed in Cook's free-kick but, with time running out, Stearman collected Gudjonsson's through-ball and cut it back for Hughes to tap into the empty net.

QPR Royce, Bignot, Shittu, Santos, Rose,Ainsworth (Donnelly 84), Lomas, Langley, Cook,Furlong (Moore 85), Nygaard (Baidoo 65).

Subs Not Used: Kus, Taylor.

Booked: Rose, Santos.

Goals: Ainsworth 6, Shittu 83.

Leicester Douglas, Stearman, McCarthy, Kisnorbo, Johansson,Maybury, Williams (Wesolowski 15), Gudjonsson, Hughes,Hume (O'Grady 68), Fryatt.

Subs Not Used: Hammond, Smith, Gerrbrand.

Booked: Johansson, McCarthy, Maybury.

Goals: Fryatt 10, Stearman 79, Hughes 88.

Att: 11,785

Ref: M Thorpe (Suffolk).