Jake Bidwell is refusing to rest on his laurels after a fine debut season in the second tier of English football.

Despite being favourites for relegation ahead of the season Jake and his Brentford teammates confounded all the doubters with a fifth placed finish in their first season back in the Championship since 1992/93.

The Bees fantastic season was eventually ended by Middlesbrough in the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Semi-Final after a 5-1 aggregate defeat.

Jake said it was a great first season in the second tier for both him and the team but he has challenged the team to kick on again and go even further next season.

“I have really enjoyed the Championship,” said Jake.

“You want to play at the highest level possible and hopefully I have proved to everyone that I can play in the Championship.

“Next year I want to kick on again and be one of the best full-backs in the Championship.

“Hopefully the club can keep kicking on and me personally as well.

“You get punished for mistakes at this level but I imagine that if you go to the Premier League you get punished again.

“I am not going to sit back and be pleased with that, I want to kick on again next year.”

Trailing 2-1 from the first leg of the Play-Off Semi-Final at Griffin Park The Bees needed to produce a special performance away at The Riverside.

However goals from Lee Tomlin, Albert Adomah and Kike ensure that it would be The Teessiders who would make Monday’s final.

Jake admitted that there was a sense of disappointment in the immediate aftermath of the defeat to Boro but that over time the squad would realise just how well they had done.

“There is initial disappointment because it would have been nice to finish the job off and ultimately get to the Premier League but it wasn’t to be,” said Jake.

“Middlesbrough are a good side and we can’t really have any complaints.

“We have played them four times and we have lost four times.

“Once you give it a couple of days and the dust settles it has been a good season.

“We have proved a lot of people wrong.

“We were probably favourites to go down at the start of the season but we put that to bed early.

“We climbed up the table and then people didn’t think that we could stay in the Play-Offs but we proved them wrong.

“It was disappointing to fall at the last hurdle but there have been improvements over the last 12 to 18 months in all departments.

“Everything is going in the right direction and people can be pleased with the job they have done this season.”

22-year-old Jake made 48 appearances for The Bees this season in a long-hard season for The Bees.

The defender said he will be pleased to have a bit of a break but admitted that thoughts will quickly turn to the new season.

“I will stay in London for most of the summer as my girlfriend is still working here,” said Jake.

“We are pretty settled here but we will go away for a few weeks to get some sunshine.

“It is nice the first ten days or two weeks you have off but after that you don’t know what to do with yourself.

“Throughout the season it is pretty full on with Saturday Tuesday games and matches coming thick and fast.

“You don’t really have much time to yourself so the first couple of weeks are nice but after that you don’t know what to do.

“You need to use the time the best you can to rest the body and the mind and come back as fresh as you can ahead of a new challenge.”

There will be one noticeable absence for Jake when he comes back in to pre-season as manager Mark Warburton leaves the club at the end of the season.

Mark was the Sporting Director who brought Jake to Brentford before moving to the managers role in December 2013.

Jake said that he owed Mark a lot for what he had done for him but that the important thing now is to impress the new manager.

“It will be strange because he has been here every day that I have been here,” said Jake.

“After four years it will be strange but all I can do is wish them well and thank them for all the hard work they have put in for the team and for me personally.

“It is going to be a new chapter and there is a new manager coming in.

“I have to focus on impressing him and staying in the team.”