James Tarkowski believes that Brentford cannot expect anything less than a fifth placed finish next season after an incredible debut campaign back in the second tier.
The Bees exceeded all expectations in their first season back in the Championship since 1992/93 by qualifying for the end of season Play-Offs.
In the end it wasn’t to be for Mark Warburton’s side as back-to-back promotion dreams were ended after a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Middlesbrough.
Speaking to Bees Player earlier this week James said that it was Aitor Karanka’s side who deserved to go through to Monday’s Wembley final.
However the 22-year-old defender said that Brentford must continue to improve and that means at least matching this season’s achievements next campaign.
“It was a tough night against a very good Middlesbrough side,” said James.
“They deserved the victory and fair play to them.
“Over the two matches they stuck to their game-plan really well and it wouldn’t surprise me if they went on to win the final now.
“They are well set up and they know what they are doing.
“We couldn’t live with their attacking players in the second leg but our time will come.
“It wasn’t meant to be this season but we have got next season coming up and we are looking forward to it.
“We always want to progress from where we have gone.
“To finish fifth this season was a great achievement but we can’t expect anything less than that next season.
“We always knew that we were good but it is hard to judge how good you are when you haven’t played at this level before.
“The first game we played was Charlton Athletic and we played well.
“We then played Bournemouth away and we played really well in the second-half there even though we got beaten.
“We then started to realise how good we were and gradually as the season has gone on we have gained confidence and we now see ourselves as a top six side.”
Personally the former Oldham Athletic defender feels he has learned a lot from his first full season with Brentford.
Like many of The Bees squad James had never played in the Sky Bet Championship before this campaign.
Reflecting on the season as a whole James felt it was one they could all be proud of and showed the team what they needed to do to go even further next season.
“It has been a really good year and I have enjoyed myself,” said James.
“It has been my first year at this level and I feel that I have acquitted myself really well.
“There have been mistakes here and there and things that I need to learn.
“On the whole I have really enjoyed myself.
“It has been a real pleasure to be part of the squad this season and some of the football we have played has been incredible at times.
“You get punished a lot more for your mistakes.
“Lower down you can make a mistake and you can get away with it sometimes.
“This year we have performed really well but one mistake has let us down costing us a draw or a defeat here and there.
“In the end that probably cost us a top two spot as we performed pretty well in almost all the games we played, there were one or two halves where we underperformed, but those slight mistakes have cost us in the end.”
After a gruelling ten month season James is looking forward to having a relaxing summer ahead of the new campaign.
With a new manager going to be in place ahead of the players’ return to pre-season training James said that every player will have a blank canvas to start from in July to press their case for a starting spot.
“I think I will be going away and relaxing this year,” said James.
“I will be going to a beach and topping up my tan.
“You need to relax and have a few weeks away but when it gets to a couple of weeks before you come back in you do start to think about it and look forward to it.
“Sometimes in the season you start to look forward to the summer and getting that rest and then in the summer you start looking forward to the season.
“There will be a bit of turnover with the new manager and a few new faces coming in but we can’t expect anything less than where we finished this season.
“It will be a blank canvas for all the lads.
“Some of them might not have played as many games as they would have liked this season but he might be a preferred choice for the new manager.
“We all need to come back fresh and fit and impress the new manager.”