David Wagner says his Huddersfield Town side have simply run out of gas at the end of the season.
The 5-1 final-day defeat at home to Brentford came in the wake of a 4-0 setback at Bristol City.
And it condemned Town to a final position of 19th in the second tier.
That’s the same as when Wagner replaced Chris Powell in November and the lowest since 2012-13, the first season back following League I promotion success when relegation was avoided on the final day.
Wagner’s side finished 11 points above the drop zone, and the German has a league record of 10 wins, six draws and now 14 defeats.
Watch fans in the South Stand bouncing despite defeat
They went behind after just 21 seconds against Brentford, who clinched their seventh win in nine outings to finish ninth.
And the head coach admitted: “We have to be honest, we struggled more or less from the first second of this match.
“We tried to work and be competitive, and up to the point we equalised (through Jamie Paterson after 50 minutes) we did that.
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“But the tank was empty, and we have to accept Brentford were much stronger.
“It shows how difficult it is in this division and that we have a lot of work to do.
“With our style we have to be fresh and focused, but in this game we were tired.
“I think that’s a reflection both of the work we have put in as a group in our time together and also the size of our squad.
“Now we must make sure we change things in the right way.
“But our decisions will be not only on the last two games, but the whole time we have spent together.
“We still have a lot to do but we have a good base to work from and push forward from.
“The last two games will help us make some good decisions going forward.”
Brentford boss Dean Smith said: “It was a great performance but the scoreline was very flattering for us because Huddersfield aren’t a bad team.
“To finish ninth is a fantastic achievement for this club.”
