Watford were once again unable to hold onto a lead against Queens Park Rangers with the Rs coming from behind to win 2-1 at Vicarage Road.

Troy Deeney’s sixth penalty of the season opened the scoring in the second half but Charlie Austin cancelled it out with a header with just over 15 minutes left before Albert Adomah grabbed a last minute winner.

The first half had been a difficult watch, not for the first time this season, with cohesion and creativity in short supply for both teams.

However the hosts grew into the fixture and some crafty work from Ismaila Sarr won the penalty from which they took the lead. 

Nevertheless, Mark Warburton's men fought back and snatched all three points, dealing the the Hornets a bit of a blow in their quest to close the gap on the automatic promotion spots.

The biggest surprise in Xisco Munoz’s starting XI was the inclusion of midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah who had been linked with a late deadline day move to Leicester City. He started along with Joao Pedro who replaced Andre Gray, while full-backs Jeremy Ngakia and Marc Navarro filled in for Adam Masina and Kiko Femenia, both of whom had picked up slight knocks prior to the match.

Watford went into the contest looking to start another winning streak after Millwall put the kibosh on their longest consecutive run of victories in their last game, preventing them from getting a fourth win on the bounce.

QPR meanwhile were looking to build some consistency after an incongruous run of two wins, two defeats and one draw in their previous five league matches.

There wasn’t a great deal between the two sides in the game’s opening exchanges, with Navarro’s speculative shot from distance that flew over the bar and Austin’s tame strike straight at Daniel Bachmann the best either side could create in the opening quarter of an hour.

Sarr almost picked out Pedro with a teasing cross from the right, but Geoff Cameron did well to put himself in between man and ball and head away the danger.

No one was required to do the same for Watford when Dominic Ball’s cross from deep found Austin at the back post, with the striker heading over the top under pressure from Navarro.

The visitors were starting to look comfortable and the Hornets needed to increase their creativity with Seny Dieng’s goal remaining unchallenged.

They came close to opening the deadlock when a Will Hughes corner was flicked on by Todd Kane, right onto the head of the unmarked Francisco Sierralta, but his effort was thwarted by a fine reaction save from Dieng, who tipped the ball onto the bar. Pedro had a shot cleared off the line from the rebound, but he was adjudged to be offside and QPR emerged unscathed.

Sierralta then threatened to do the same from a Tom Cleverley free kick after Lee Wallace had been booked for a crunching challenge on Sarr right in front of the corner flag. A deflection took the ball to the feet of Chalobah, but his snatched shot ricocheted behind for another corner.

By this stage, Watford had worked out that they were most dangerous when crossing into the box and twice more tried to find the breakthrough with deliveries from out wide.

First Ngakia’s searching ball from deep was almost turned into his own net by Yoann Barbet, who chested past his goalkeeper before showing great composure to recover and clear the ball to safety.

Then Navarro’s cross from the right found Pedro lurking at the back post, but he couldn’t get over the top of the ball and headed over the bar.

At the other end, QPR’s growing frustration was epitomised by Austin’s optimistic half volley from range that flew wide before the sides made their way down the tunnel goalless at the break.

Watford continued their improvement into the second half, with Sarr in particular looking more dangerous. The Senegal international created the first chance of the half when he forced an error from Wallace, before firing at Dieng from the edge of the area.

His efforts eventually resulted in the opening goal of the game as he chased down Wallace again in the corner before beating Geoff Cameron to the loose ball inside the 18-yard box, drawing a foul from the Rs skipper and winning a penalty. Deeney of course dispatched it with a customary powerful finish.

However, in the wake of the goal the game reverted to type, with moments of quality drying up and chances going with them.

QPR made the most of the shift in momentum and looked the most likely to score. An Ilias Chair crossfield pass almost produced a clear sight of goal, finding Kane in behind, only for him to help the ball on into the path of no one.

Then Macauley Bonne should have equalised with 20 minutes remaining when he found himself on the end of a Wallace cross from the left, just six yards out. The striker failed to make a strong enough connection and Bachmann was able to keep it out.

Eventually the visitors were rewarded for their efforts when substitute Chris Willock wriggled away from Chalobah without too much difficulty before hanging a cross up into the box where Austin powered a header past Bachmann to level the tie.

Watford almost responded perfectly when Deeney’s headed cross found its way to the feet of Cleverley, but Rob Dickie was on the line to clear, while Bachmann had to produce a save to his left to deny Willock from the edge of the box.

Despite the introduction of attacking substitutes Andre Gray, Ken Sema and Philip Zinckernagel, the Hornets still found themselves on the back foot late into the game and when Kane's cross from the right found substitute Adomah in the centre, the Ghanaian controlled well under little pressure and beat the onrushing Bachmann to snatch the win.

Watford now find themselves three points behind second place Swansea, who also have a game in hand.