Nottingham Forest boss Andy Cook says there is a sense of pride among the disappointment of losing out on promotion to the Women's Championship.
The Reds were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Watford at Stadium MK in the Women's National League play-off final on Saturday afternoon. A single header from Poppy Wilson was the difference on the day with Forest unable to produce a response.
Despite an extraordinary campaign that saw them win a league title and league cup, it's ultimately ended in heartbreak as Championship football was within touching distance. However, Cook says they must still be proud of their achievements and use the prospect of automatic promotion next season as motivation to go again.
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The Forest boss said post-match: "We can win the league, we can win the cup, but the feeling now - we've done all that work. Done brilliantly throughout the season, but to not gain promotion it almost feels like it's worthless.
"We know it's not, but that's the raw emotion. I told the players then, you remain focused on how well you've done and I'm proud of everything they've done. We've won the league and a cup, not many teams can win a double. We've managed to do that.
"From next season, everyone knows that if you win the league you go straight up. That's the motivation, but the other side of it is we've got some really good sides in the Northern Premier."
The reality for Forest, however, is the strength of the Northern Premier Division is getting stronger and stronger. It'll be a tough ask to replicate this season's title win with Wolves, Burnley and league newcomers Newcastle United among the clubs that will be vying for the prize.
Cook outlined how Forest will look to dust themselves off and go again next term, with plans already underway.
He continued: "The priority is to make sure everyone is still happy with the club and what we're doing, then on top of that we need to recruit a couple of people and see where we can go.
"We've had conversations with agents and things like that already and no doubt my phone will be busy. We've just got to make sure things are set and we dust ourselves down.
"But, most importantly, we check on the squad first and see how they're doing and make sure they're still on this journey with Nottingham Forest."
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