It's a week since the play-offs but the hard work is already under way for the new season as Karl Robinson and his backroom team begin to plan ahead.
"There hasn’t been a chance to share the disappointment with the team or with the fans but the staff have spent this week reviewing everything from last season and clearing the decks for next time now" Karl told iFollow.
"When you look back at the first performance Blackpool took their chances, we didn’t take ours and then in the second game we matched them in a 3-3 draw. The moments I look back on are when we went 2-1 down, and 3-2 and you think to yourself that’s over, 6-2, but the players refused to throw the towel in. There were some great tackles, a real fight in them even though it was completely impossible by then. Even with that impossible ask they still believed right until the final whistle.
"That just shows you the type of people we have in this building, still giving it everything right to the end of the very last game. So that gave me something to look back on with pride.
"For a team never tipped to be even in the top twelve to be in the play-offs for two years in a row is mind-blowing. We have broken records and managed to get through a very difficult year. I am frustrated to get so close to promotion twice but on reflection pride is the biggest feeling.
"A week on and we are already hard at work again. That’s our mantra here, our constant development. We are becoming an institution; a strong body of people who never stand still.
"I know I can be a pain because I am demanding but we can’t rest on this season. There are changes in the staff with Chris Short moving on and two new people coming in, there are two state of the art pitches coming at the Training Ground, new players coming to meet us about signing. Even as I sit here and look outside I can see Marcus McGuane, Sam Winnall and Sam Long out there working hard to be ready when we come back.
“It’s weird. I feel refreshed and ready for the new season, but I know I need a break to fully recharge the batteries. We all do. But nowadays with Zoom calls you can’t switch off completely, you are always working, and that’s what we will all be doing this summer.”