A tightly contested game at St James' Park came to life 12 minutes from time when Moussa Sissoko was on hand to fire home the winner, continuing a fantastic run of form for the hosts.
But Redknapp felt QPR, who now prop up the table, were worthy of a point from their long trip north.
"I thought it was drifting off into a 0-0 draw to be honest," he said. "I couldn't say I was on tenterhooks thinking they would score or that they were battering us.
"But we didn't create enough either. We were solid enough without really being that creative and I felt that it was drifting on to a decent point."
The result was QPR's sixth defeat on the road this season and Redknapp admits his side are finding life tough away from Loftus Road, although he was quick to point several setbacks in the build-up to this latest loss.
He added: "When you play away from home I think you need a bit of pace on the break and we're not a team that's overly blessed with pace.
"I thought we missed [Eduardo] Vargas. He's done very well for us. His wife went into labour and he wanted to be there, which was fair enough.
"[Mauricio] Isla, who gives us a lot going forward, arrived late on Thursday and he looked absolutely out on his feet yesterday having had two games this week in South America.
"So that took a bit away from us. Those two are very quick attacking players and I felt we missed them."
