Wellington Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay has labelled his side's season a success despite their "cruel" exit in the A-League elimination finals after losing 1-0 to Perth Glory on Saturday.
The Phoenix dominated possession and fired 31 shots at goal, but failed to find the back of the net, bringing an end to a challenging season.
Talay is trying to focus on the positives as the Phoenix recovered from their first worst start in A-League history with four consecutive defeats to claim their highest-ever finish at the end of the regular season in third.
Had the coronavirus pandemic not impacted the season the Phoenix could have pushed higher, but they failed to recapture their stellar form when the competition resumed last month.
Talay, who confirmed he will be back for next season, believes his side will be better off in the long run after their loss to last year's beaten grand finalists.
"I'm still very proud of the boys," said Talay. "It's been a great experience for our younger players to play in these games.
"The more they play in these finals series the more accustomed they get to it and the better experience they get from it.
"I've thoroughly enjoyed it. We had a great bunch of boys, we started on the back foot and the belief was there and the process was there, and it got us to where we finished, third on the table.
"That's our template and we'll build on that hopefully for next season."
Perth scored the only goal of the game in the 18th minute when Joel Chianese beat Phoenix keeper Stefan Marinovic.
Despite Wellington's best efforts, they couldn't beat Glory keeper Liam Reddy - who previously played for the Phoenix - as he made 11 saves in front of goal.
"Football's a cruel game sometimes," said Talay.
"You dominate a game, create enough opportunities to win and it's a recurring theme from the last game against Newcastle. If we're not clinical in front of goal, we can't win games.
"We gave them one opportunity where they scored and then I think we dominated the game but we didn't score a goal to get ourselves back into it."
The Phoenix have spent the last nine weeks living alongside together in a hotel in New South Wales, and some players will now return to New Zealand - where they will have to serve their fourth mandatory two-week quarantine - while others will remain in Australia.
Talay didn't want to use that as an excuse.
"We can make excuses about the hub at that sort of stuff but people need to acknowledge what Wellington Phoenix have done to get this season kept going because that's very important as well.
"Us being here for nine weeks to keep this competition going and to keep it alive, I think we played a major role in that."
Talay confirmed plans are underway for building a team for next season, but he wouldn't comment further until the salary cap and the structure for next season has been confirmed.
One player who is expected to leave is defender Liberato Cacace, who has attracted interest from clubs in England and Belgium.
"I think he's gone to another level, and I said this previously before the game that he's at a level now where he needs to be challenged somewhere else, and that's overseas," says Talay.
"For me, he was a big player, he played a massive role with our club and now that the season's over for us he'll be going to be a new challenge and I wish him all the best."
The Phoenix will return to Wellington in the coming days, while Perth face Sydney FC in the semi-finals, a repeat of last year's grand final.
Mark Rudan's Western United face Brisbane Roar in Sunday's second elimination final, with the winner to face Melbourne City in the semis.
