Supporters will be surprised to learn that skipper Luke Chambers is more disappointed now than he was last year when Town were beaten by fierce rivals Norwich in the play-offs.

That was an obvious low point but Chambers insists the fact that he and his colleagues have not at least emulated last season’s top six finish is a source of even more frustration.

Chambers, 30, said: “As strange as it might sound, I think I’m probably more disappointed with how we have ended this season than how we ended last season. We have just fallen away at the end and it obviously wasn’t through lack of trying.

“I’m pretty speechless at how it has ended and very, very disappointed. I’ve been trying to keep my spirits up around the lads but it has hit me pretty hard, the fact that I feel we should have made the play-offs.

“You look back on moments throughout the season and you think, ‘We could have done better here and there’. We just have to try to learn from it and build on it for next year really.

“I tried to put the play-off defeat out of my mind completely, losing to them and the way we did it, but if circumstances had have been different that day we would definitely have taken them a lot closer than we did in the end.

“It’s easy to look back on this season and say that we lost David McGoldrick for a lot of the season, that Daryl Murphy never really got into his stride, that Ryan Fraser was tremendous in every game he played and then we lost him for the majority of the season and that Teddy Bishop has only just returned from injury and played his first games of the season.

“It’s hardly a secret that we missed those four players for a lot of the year and if you took four players of that quality out of any team it would weaken them considerably.

“Maybe in the last few weeks we have lacked a goal threat and the fact that we haven’t scored enough goals might have been our downfall. The four players I mention are the type who could unlock teams, as they have shown in the past.

“But the lack of goals isn’t just down to the strikers. We’ve been very fortunate to have four top-class strikers at the club and it has proved difficult to have them all fit at the same time.

“We haven’t had that luxury so far. Every striker wants to play but we have had to play people out of position and just fit in when they can.

“The boys have still scored quite a lot of goals — Murph’s got 10, Pits has got 11 — and it was good to see Didz score at the weekend. If he goes away with Ireland in the summer it will do him good and he’ll come back ready to try to last the whole season for us.”

Photo: Action Images

Penguinblue added 06:47 - May 6 Yawn - a right back would have helped
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christiand added 06:54 - May 6 How was our slow, rigid long ball style of play ever going to be good enough to get in the top 6?
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nutter added 07:09 - May 6 First game of the season sums it up. Comfortably beating Brentford until dieing on ours feet just before the end
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TractorCam added 07:11 - May 6 "Chambers Even More Disappointed Than Last Year. Supporters will be surprised to learn that skipper Luke Chambers is more disappointed now than he was last year when Town were beaten by fierce rivals Norwich in the play-offs." Really? He's more disappointed to finish outside the play offs than in them, i'll be damned
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GiveusaWave added 07:16 - May 6 Sorry, but we haven't got the creative midfielders to make a serious charge this year. If we had somehow made the play offs we wouldn't have got promoted.
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Dissboyitfc added 08:03 - May 6 Really like Luke and his professional and passionate atttude, just dont like him as a right back, one of a number of reasons we didnt make top six. Injuries Didnt help, of course they didnt, but we had time to address this at certain times throughout the season. And we didnt do it. I just hope the things that are so obvious to most people are addressed for next season. I dont want more of the same thank you, along with so many on here!

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blueboy1981 added 19:06 - May 6 Good on you Chambo - being disappointed, so you should be - as are many of us. But not all .... as we know !!! Top draw Club man - did his best at RB, but will never be one. McCarthy has been unfair to a few players, including Chambo, in expecting them to continually play OUT of their best position this past season. There can be no logical reason, or need, to do so for so long - short term yes, long term no. Doing so, totally disrupts a team and nullifies the overall potential. Proof has been there for all (who choose to) to see.

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Warkys_Tash added 23:59 - May 6 So are we Chambo, bitterly. So are we!! What a wasted season for all of us.
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coolcat added 14:28 - May 10 Would be very surprised if he wasn't disappointed. Testament to Chambers as a player and Captain in maintaining high standards with a lot of injured key players most of the season coupled with very little expenditure. 7th place is a decent finish all considered.
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