“I could feel the disappointment around the ground,” he said.
“But I couldn’t have asked for any more from my players. The performance in the second half was terrific."
Holloway felt his side were unlucky not to take all three points.
After Paul Furlong’s equaliser, Adam Miller failed to convert a great chance to score and when Furlong later went off with a hamstring problem, Rangers looked less likely to dig out a winner.
The Rs boss said: “How that ball didn’t go in the net there I don’t know.
“I felt Adam Miller should have got his first goal for the club but he said the fella on the line handballed it, and it looked like that to me too.
“But I have to say I enjoyed that game. It was a tactical battle and I had to try and change things to give us a chance, which I felt I did by putting Georges Santos up front and Kevin Gallen in the ‘hole’.
“I wanted Marc Bircham to sit back with Dan Shittu and Andrew Davies and for everyone else to pile forward.
“I put Birch in a kind of Makelele role – but Birch looked a bit like Mrs Makelele at first!” he joked.
Holloway added: “The fat lady hasn’t started singing yet, but she’s got a mike in her hand. But my boys – I’m so proud of all of them I can’t tell you.
"I don't want there to be too much disappointment if our season peters out a bit, because we've done very well indeed.
“There’s disappointment tonight and that’s down to the expectations we’ve created. But that’s a good thing – and I want that to continue.
“I’m delighted with the way the season has panned out. The challenge now is to improve next year.”