Former Sunderland striker Don Goodman believes Bolton Wanderers are among several sides in League One who might have expected to finish above Plymouth Argyle this season as the Devon side missed out on the play-offs.
The fight to get into the top six was a keenly contested and intense fight for the whole of the campaign in the third tier of English football.
On the final day of the season, MK Dons finished third with a 5-0 demolition on the road of Plymouth to set up a play-offs semi-final clash against Wycombe Wanderers.
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Sheffield Wednesday will meanwhile take on Sunderland in the other semi-final, as Argyle missed out on reaching the top six despite finishing on 80 points.
The Green Army finished above Oxford United in eighth, while Bolton finished in ninth and on 73 points, a good achievement given Ian Evatt's men were a newly promoted side this campaign.
Portsmouth and Ipswich Town meanwhile finished ninth and 10th respectively, while Charlton Athletic, another big name in the division, ended up 13th.
And speaking on the Sky Sports EFL podcast, former Sunderland, Wolves and West Bromwich Albion forward Goodman felt sympathy for Steven Schumacher's side as they narrowly missed out on the top six on the last day of the campaign.
And he believes that several big teams in the division will perhaps have expected to have finished above the Home Park side this season in what he feels has been the hardest of the three EFL leagues.
He said: "You've got to feel desperately sorry for them, haven't you, and it was going to be one of them wasn't it with a remarkable points total that was going to miss out. Unfortunately for Plymouth it turned out to be them.
"As the season was coming towards its climax, I looked at the end of their fixtures and they had to play Wigan, MK Dons, Sunderland, Wycombe, Oxford, Burton, Ispwich in the last seven games and that's where it just slightly unravelled a fraction.
"Now they have got the whole summer to stew on it and that feeling of pride, which is an emotion they should have, it might take a little while for them to reflect and rationalise and feel that.
"But when you look at the league table they've finished above Oxford, Bolton, Portsmouth, Ipswich and Charlton, all teams who are big clubs and maybe expected to be finishing above Plymouth Argyle.
"I think Steven Schumacher did a brilliant job, lifted the place really, there will be now on the back of this a little bit of expectation for next season and hopefully next season they can build on what they've achieved this season.
"It is an achievement, even if it dosen't feel like one, finishing seventh in what has been probably the hardest of all our EFL leagues really."
