Motherwell manager Graham Alexander says the club have to look to strengthen if they are to claim European football like they have this term.
The 50-year-old's side suffered the full might of a relentless Hoops side who stormed to a 6-0 final day victory as they lifted the Premiership title.
A Kyogo Furuhashi double plus a great goal from Fir Park academy product David Turnbull put the game beyond his team before Jota and Georgios Giakoumakis added insult to injury in the second half.
'Well headed into this game fourth, knowing Europa Conference League was secure but that if they were to lose this, they needed Ross County to beat Dundee United.
This would ensure they remained where they were and a third qualifying round spot would be guaranteed, but they'll head in at the stage previous following United's 2-1 win.
Alexander said of his side - who have battled illness for the last fortnight - losing on the final day: "We wanted to come here and get a result but the game in the end went beyond us.
"I thought the first 20 minutes we started quit solid but it's not about today, it's about the whole season. What the players and the staff have done this season is fantastic.
"I think you could see that (it being a bridge too far). We had to change the team 55 minutes before coming here because of illness. But we came up against a fantastic team on a massive high. They are a quality.
"We need to look at the season as a whole as we have done some fantastic things getting into Europe."
It's still been a successful first full term in charge for Alexander, who took over at Fir Park with the club in a relegation scrap 18 months ago.
An exciting summer now awaits in ML1 ahead of an eighth European adventure in 14 years.
He added: "We can't just focus on the European football. We need to strengthen and remember the league programme as well. You will see the other big clubs at this level improving a lot.
"They will spend a lot of money so we need to work exceptionally hard to improve what we have if we want to stay as competitive as we have been this season."
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