Gary Johnson admitted it wasn't to be for his City side after their heartbreaking play-off final defeat to Hull City.
Dean Windass' first-half volley proved the only goal of a tense game at Wembley, in which City dominated possession for large spells.
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Speaking after the game, Gary told Bristol City World: "It wasn't to be. I didn't want to be the one making the losing speech but here I am.
"The boys are inconsolable at the moment. They're disappointed, of course we all are. It will take a week or two, maybe the summer holidays to get over this.
"We need to make sure they're ready to go again for the new season. I thought we did well enough to make the game even.
"We had a couple of chances that, had we taken them at the right time, would have been handy. They took their one clever chance from a clever player in Dean Windass.
"We gave it a go at the end but we've lost a game and nothing you say now will make any difference. We'll move on and wait for next season."
Bradley Orr was taken to hospital with a suspected fractured cheekbone and Jamie McCombe was unavailable after becoming ill overnight.
But Gary refused to use those issues "as excuses". He said: "We were just disappointed for the two boys and their big days were taken away.
"We hope both recover soon. But they've been part of a wonderful season, they all have. Even the boys who are fit at the moment are inconsolable.
"I've already been round and shook all their hands. It's difficult and we've got four or five weeks to get over it."
He added: "It hurts because we were so close to it. I wanted it (promotion) for this group of players. Sadly we fell a bit short at the final hurdle.
"Why can't these [players] come back and go one better next season? We've got to do some fine-tuning over the summer and we've already done lots of planning."
Gary finished by thanking the supporters, all 38,000 of them in a 86,703 attendance at Wembley.
He said; "It was a fantastic atmosphere throughout and we threw everything at them at the end. Our fans were magnificent and we'll be back."
