Walter Smith praised the never-say-die attitude of his players as they finally booked their place in the fifth round of the Active Nation Scottish Cup following an epic struggle with Hamilton.
Accies fought back from behind to earn a 3-3 draw at the first time of asking and made life difficult for the holders again at Ibrox last night by forcing the replay into extra-time.
The regulation 90 minutes may have ended goalless but Rangers' hard work paid off when Steven Whittaker netted twice in four minutes to ensure a meeting with St Mirren in the next round.
Kenny Miller - who is now an injury doubt along with Nacho Novo for the weekend - struck the woodwork twice on a frustrating night.
But Smith had no complaints about the perseverance of his side as they eventually wore Hamilton down.
He said: "It was a hard night's work for us and I thought it would be like that before we started. That's how it turned out.
"Credit to our own boys, they created a fair number of opportunities. Recently, our conversion of opportunities has been terrific, the average has been terrific.
"Tonight, as can happen in some games, you get pay-back for that. We hit the crossbar a couple of times and the Hamilton goalkeeper had an excellent night.
"It looked like it was going to be one of those cup ties. Credit to our boys, they just keep going all the time and got the goals that matter.
"Regardless of the circumstances, they keep going all the time. I couldn't fault the creation of opportunity, it was just a difficult night to get the goals."
Rangers have faced Hamilton three times within the last 10 days - a narrow 1-0 win for the Scottish champions on Saturday sandwiched between the cup ties - and Smith admits they are a team he does not relish coming up against.
He said: "We carved out of a lot of chances but Hamilton are an awkward team to play against, they've got a good system of play and have some decent players in their team.
"You have to give them credit for the way they played. Although we did create a fair number of opportunities, I always find them an awkward team to play against.
"You've got to do exceptionally well, you've got to take your chances when they come. We maybe didn't do that quite as efficiently as we have done recently."
Reflecting on his team's efforts against Rangers, boss Billy Reid said: "To come here and hold on for 90 minutes is progress for us. We have come here in the past and taken a few thumpings.
"That hasn't been the case in the last three games and we have to build on that."
The regulation 90 minutes may have ended goalless but Rangers' hard work paid off when Steven Whittaker netted twice in four minutes to ensure a meeting with St Mirren in the next round.
Kenny Miller - who is now an injury doubt along with Nacho Novo for the weekend - struck the woodwork twice on a frustrating night.
But Smith had no complaints about the perseverance of his side as they eventually wore Hamilton down.
He said: "It was a hard night's work for us and I thought it would be like that before we started. That's how it turned out.
"Credit to our own boys, they created a fair number of opportunities. Recently, our conversion of opportunities has been terrific, the average has been terrific.
"Tonight, as can happen in some games, you get pay-back for that. We hit the crossbar a couple of times and the Hamilton goalkeeper had an excellent night.
"It looked like it was going to be one of those cup ties. Credit to our boys, they just keep going all the time and got the goals that matter.
"Regardless of the circumstances, they keep going all the time. I couldn't fault the creation of opportunity, it was just a difficult night to get the goals."
Rangers have faced Hamilton three times within the last 10 days - a narrow 1-0 win for the Scottish champions on Saturday sandwiched between the cup ties - and Smith admits they are a team he does not relish coming up against.
He said: "We carved out of a lot of chances but Hamilton are an awkward team to play against, they've got a good system of play and have some decent players in their team.
"You have to give them credit for the way they played. Although we did create a fair number of opportunities, I always find them an awkward team to play against.
"You've got to do exceptionally well, you've got to take your chances when they come. We maybe didn't do that quite as efficiently as we have done recently."
Reflecting on his team's efforts against Rangers, boss Billy Reid said: "To come here and hold on for 90 minutes is progress for us. We have come here in the past and taken a few thumpings.
"That hasn't been the case in the last three games and we have to build on that."
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