Darren Sarll was left dejected after Stevenage’s season ended in defeat with the play-offs just out of reach.
The manager rued a poor performance to finish out the campaign and had no issues with the end result.
“I wanted us to finish at the Lamex strong. I wanted us to give the supporters a good attacking display but tactically today we were far too loose.
“I have got to hold my hands up, be the bigger man and say Accrington were the better side today and no-one will really understand how much that pains me.
“There is a lot of very down players in that dressing room. Hopefully the outside can understand that after 10 months of work, to finish on that leaves a real sour taste in our mouths. We have laid some decent foundations but we definitely have got to improve.
“I don’t want to be mediocre; I don’t want Stevenage to be mediocre, I want us to be great. To be great we are going to have to do things a little differently and work a little bit harder.”
Sarll believes that his squad ran out of gas during the final weeks of the season as Boro’s position in the table fell.
“I think we squeezed every drop out of those players. Maybe 10th is the best that group of players could give us. We won’t settle on that but maybe it was.
“I think physically for the last six games we couldn’t really play at the tempo we want to play at. We couldn’t maintain that high pressing game and we couldn’t move the ball up the thirds as quickly as we had been doing.
“We have got to find a better consistency, a better standard, a better foundation to our performance and that starts tomorrow.”
The big picture has to be positive though as the team have come on leaps and strides from a year ago.
Sarll says that it might take a few days for him to look at the season in such a light but ultimately, the team are on the right path.
“We are better than this time last year. That is the one positive we will take away.
“We tried our absolute best. It hasn’t been good enough for what we want - we always want to have play-off football or promotion winning football but we are closer to that than 12 months ago.
“I think in a few days I will realise that and be a bit prouder than that but at the moment I am still seething from the performance and the result.
“We want to thank the supporters, the board and the chairman. Their backing and that ovation at the end where they stayed behind does mean a lot because it gives us encouragement to start our work for next year.”