Ross County manager Malky Mackay says pride is his main emotion after the Staggies narrowly missed out on a European place.
The Staggies were denied the opportunity to take their push for a first ever European qualification to the final day, after falling to a 4-1 loss to Rangers.
County initially defied to odds to reach the top-six for the first time in six years, after failing to win any of their opening 10 matches of the campaign.
Mackay insists the progress made in his first season in charge gives him confidence for the future.
He said: “There is an immediate disappointment in that we couldn’t take it to the last game of the season.
“After that, I spoke to them and told them how proud I am of them.
“When you think of the budget of the club, and where we budget for in the league, the team consistently showed this season we can go toe-to-toe with most teams.
“We can score goals against most teams, and have a real go. That’s the proudest achievement I’ve got of that group of players, that there was a consistency to them.
“By the time the split happened, they were the fifth best team in the country. We have certainly not disgraced ourselves in these last few games.
“I have a belief that it doesn’t matter the name is Ross County. I think we are as good as any team inside this division, outside the top three. There’s a confidence that comes with that, and we’ve just got to make sure we build on that.”
Rangers took an early lead through strikes from Scott Wright and James Tavernier, with Jordan White giving the Staggies hope when he pulled a goal back after the break.
Late strikes from Fashion Sakala and Amad Diallo killed off the Staggies hopes however, while Dundee United and Motherwell’s results conspired against the Dingwall men.
Mackay was disappointed with the manner of the goals Giovanni Van Bronckhorst’s side netted, however he was pleased his side showed an intent to keep the game alive.
He added: “We were playing against a very good team. Looking at it beforehand, I thought Gio would go with his strongest team.
“Seven days out from the Europa League final, that’s when I would play them.
“Their team that came out wasn’t really a surprise to me. Young Lowry was in the team, but the rest of the team looked like the team that are around about what they will start with.
“We knew it was going to be a tough night. In the first half we had to give up a lot of the ball. There was a lot of pressure but I thought we handled that reasonably well.
“I was disappointed with the goals we lost, with a couple of set-pieces and a mistake by us in our own box for the last one, as well as a penalty.
“At half-time I asked them to stay positive and keep trying to have a calm head and pick our passes when the transition happened, which I think we did.
“Jordan scored a cracking goal and for about 10 minutes we had caught them 30 yards from their own goal a few times.
“With just a change of pass by the person on the ball, we could have been in.
“We obviously lost it near the end, but we were playing against a very good team who are going into the Europa League final next week.”
