DARREN Ward paid tribute to the effort of his Town teammates after seeing the Robins come agonisingly close to sealing a Wembley date.
The defender played right the way through both semi-final encounters but having been a part of Millwall's 2010 Play-Off final win, the 34-year old missed out on a chance at a return to the second tier of English football.
He said: "It was a bitter pill to swallow but credit to all the lads.
"We battled back with ten men but conceded some poor goals. We couldn't quite get over the line.
"We thought Brentford had gone mentally and we knew we would hold strong, against a very strong side.
"The lads were obviously really disappointed but we will bounce back."
He added: "We will have a look at things now. I moved here to win things but I need a bit of a break.
"I haven't missed a training session for about three years now, so it's time for some rest in the off season before we go again."
