DARREN Pratley has urged Swansea City to pick their chins up ahead of tomorrow's game at Queens Park Rangers, insisting: "People never thought we'd have it so good."

Swansea's automatic promotion hopes look all but over after their midweek defeat by West Bromwich Albion.

The 2-0 loss saw Paulo Sousa's men slip to fifth in the Championship table, behind Leicester on goal difference, but the Swans still have an eight-point cushion over seventh-placed Sheffield United.

And Pratley believes Swansea spirits should be high as they head into the last nine games of the regular season.

"The top two is not over yet — it's not impossible," the midfielder stressed. "But it looks like it's going away from us after the West Brom result, so what we have to do is make sure we finish in the play-offs.

"If you'd said at the start of the season that we'd be fifth with nine games to, most people would have laughed because we were one of the favourites to go down.

"We're doing well at the moment and we're not going to sit back because we might not get to the top two."

Pratley reckons a draw would have been the right result against the Baggies, and the game looked to be heading for a stalemate until Giles Barnes won a controversial penalty.

But Swansea's leading scorer argues that Swansea must try not to feel sorry for themselves after another dubious refereeing decision went against them.

"The boys were all disappointed, but we've got another game against QPR now and we have to pick ourselves up for it," he added.

"It was disappointing to lose at home to one of our promotion rivals, but we have to move on. The game tomorrow will be no easier than West Brom because they have a new manager and are doing well."

gareth vincent