Controversial QPR midfielder Joey Barton was sent off for a below the belt punch on Saturday, before his team slumped to a late 2-1 defeat at relegation rivals Hull City.

Close-season signing and Senegal international Dame N'Doye headed the 89th-minute winner for Hull on his 30th birthday after a Nikica Jelavic shot opened the scores for the hosts and a Charlie Austin header had levelled the scores five minutes before half-time.

The result leaves QPR, who played for an hour with 10 men, in 17th place on 22 points, level with next to bottom Aston Villa and Burnley, while Hull climb to 15th on 26 points.

Barton had already been on a Premier League record run of seven yellow cards in seven games when he was sent off at Hull's KC Stadium in the 33rd minute for punching Hull's Tom Huddlestone between the legs during a general scrap.

Hull were at that time 1-0 up after Jelavic produced a slick strike on 16 minutes to beat 'keeper Robert Green, and Rangers were pushing for an equaliser when Darnell Furlong, on his QPR debut, fouled Jelavic.

Hull's players reacted with fury and, while a major shoving session ensued, Barton produced his punch on Huddlestone, leaving the home number eight bent double and gasping as referee Anthony Taylor produced a straight red.

That means Barton has now had seven yellows and a red card in his last eight Premier League outings while Furlong was booked on his debut.

Austin then grabbed an equaliser for 10-man QPR on 39 minutes after latching on to a Matt Phillips cross from the right wing.

He rose near the penalty spot and headed low and right past Hull 'keeper Allan McGregor to make it 1-1.

N'Doye only arrived at Hull during the winter transfer window from Lokomotiv Moscow, and his winner was his first goal for his new club on his second appearance.

Neither of the two relegation strugglers had won two consecutive games this season but both had won last time out, with QPR grabbing a first victory in eight at Sunderland and Hull beating Aston Villa 2-0.

In 2008 Barton was jailed for six months on charges of common assault and affray after CCTV footage caught him punching one man 20 times before attacking a teenager, who lost teeth in the attack.