Harry Redknapp saluted hat-trick hero Charlie Austin but also saved praise for the character his side showed to come from two down and beat West Brom.
The 3-2 victory at Loftus Road moved the R's out of the Premier League bottom three as Austin returned from suspension to score three goals to complete a remarkable comeback after Redknapp's side started the game slowly.
The visitors were two ahead inside the opening 20 minutes as both Joleon Lescott and Silvestre Varela hit their first goals for the Baggies but Austin scored from the spot to half the arrears before the break.
And the 25-year-old moved onto 11 goals for the campaign, and nine from his last eight appearances, as he struck twice in the second half to lift QPR up to 15th in the table.
"Charlie scored the goals and has been excellent for us but we showed a lot of character to come back from two down," Redknapp said of his striker, who became the first QPR player in 21 years to score a Premier League hat trick.
"We were being outplayed, they started fantastically with their movement and passing and it was difficult to live with them in the early stages but to come back from that and win 3-2 is a fantastic result.
"Everyone talks about his three goals but his defending at the end of the game, he makes a challenge in the corner that was unbelievable, you would've thought it was a right-back.
"If that ball had come into the box we could have been in trouble but that summed up his work-rate up today, he worked his socks off for the team."
Reports earlier in the week suggested former bricklayer Austin had turned down a new contract but Redknapp insisted he knew nothing of a potential deal.
"I don't get involved with the contracts," he said. "Certainly Charlie is a player you want to keep at your football club. He has scored goals at every level and now he is scoring goals in the Premier League, he deserves it because he is a great lad."