Ian Holloway admitted his team were pushed all the way by 10-man Northampton after QPR won 1-0 to secure a place in the second round of the Carabao Cup.
Yeni Ngbakoto scored 36th-minute winner at Loftus Road, where Leon Barnett was sent off for a second bookable offence eight minutes into the second half.
The League One outfit worked tirelessly and almost grabbed a late equaliser when Ryan Manning cleared Leon Lobjoit’s header off the line.
“I felt they played very well. They closed us, pressed us and knew what we were going to try to do,” Rangers boss Holloway said.
“I’ve got to give Northampton massive credit, but my lads still saw it through. We managed to keep going and just about scrape through.
“There are a lot of teams that haven’t gone through. We have and I’m delighted with the way the boys kept fighting and working for each other.”
Holloway made a host of changes, including the selection of Steven Caulker – the defender’s first appearance since last October.
He said: “I had to make changes to protect some of the players who played so well against Reading on Saturday and I played a team that wasn’t as balanced as I wanted it to be.
“But I’m pleased with all my squad players. It’s difficult when the team play on Saturday, you’re not involved and then you have to go out in a very different game.
“I’m delighted for Caulker and I want to mention all of them. We can be a lot better than that but Northampton played really well.
“It’s about standing up and being counted and we’ve done that.”
Northampton boss Justin Edinburgh was proud of his side’s performance and felt they should have been awarded an injury-time penalty for a challenge by Jack Robinson on Billy Waters.
“It was a stonewall penalty. Absolutely. You can look at it as long as you like, we should have had a penalty,” Edinburgh said.
“It wasn’t a coming together. The player has had to put his arm out to push him in the back and it’s a clear penalty.”
This post was last modified on 09/08/2017