Sean Dyche believes Burnley have learned a number of valuable lessons that will stand them in good stead as they look to make an instant return to the Premier League.
The Turf Moor club ended the season with a 1-0 away victory against Aston Villa courtesy of a Danny Ings header.
The result means Burnley finish 19th and will be playing the Championship next season but Dyche believes his players can take great pride in their performances throughout the campaign.
“There’s great pride and integrity in how we work and I thought it was on show again today against a good side,” he said.
“The margins have been so tight, I’ve spoken about it a lot, the moments of clarity and truth in front of goal, big decisions that have maybe gone against us – not too many, I must make that clear.
“But all those defining things and the higher up in any walk of life you go, elite level sport particularly, those margins are really, really tight. I’ve been pleased we’ve been so close and it’s been so tight in a way because you don’t want to get into the Premier League and t gets away from you.
“There’s been a lot of work done here and a lot of improvements made. The team will have grown from it as individuals and as a club.”
Burnley will go into next season as one of the favourites to gain promotion but Dyche has warned fans that living up to those expectations will be difficult.
“The next challenge will be upon us very quickly. And it is a challenge,” he added.
“We’ve been in that division and it’s a tough division, make no mistake – we’ll need the mentality, we’ll need the quality, we’ll need everything that we’ve learnt and we’ll need the fans as well.”
The former Watford boss also had words of praise for the match-winner Ings, who is set to leave the club this summer.
“He’s done terrific for the club and behind his efforts there is a group who have done terrific for the club as I mentioned,” he said. “If things don’t go well for you then you need to know that you’re giving everything to make sure they go right. I think that has been on show all season.”
He also joked that the retiring Steven Reid would be fined after hearing the midfielder had cried in a post-match interview.
“Did he cry? I’m going to fine him, make no mistake, I’m going to fine him if he cried,” Dyche joked.
“No, he’s outstanding, I played with him at Millwall when he was coming through and I thought he was a fantastic player then, he’s matured into a man, not just a player, there’s more to him than that, there’s more depth to his character.
“I like him as a person and I respect him as a player so he’s got a great mixture and he’s been brilliant for us. His mentality round the club with the players rubs off on everybody. He’s just a fantastic bloke and a footballer.”