Liam Manning spoke positively about a promotion challenge next season after seeing his Bristol City team stretch their unbeaten run to seven games with a dominant display in a 2-0 win over Rotherham.
Tommy Conway grabbed his 12th goal of the season on 32 minutes, firing home powerfully from the penalty spot after being tripped as he tried to round goalkeeper Dillon Phillips.
And Scott Twine set the seal on a comfortable success with a 57th-minute free-kick, bent around the defensive wall with his right foot after he had been fouled 25 yards out.
For relegated Rotherham it was another indication of the big job facing boss Steve Evans. But Ashton Gate fans left the final home game of the campaign in high spirits.
Head coach Manning said: “I believe fans should dream big, as long as they understand the processes necessary for making the dreams come true.
“It means players, staff and supporters being the best they can be every single day. Only by that being the case can you build the level of consistency necessary to mount a promotion challenge.
“We had problems with consistency earlier in the season, but recently the lads have been right at it in every game.
“There are clear signs of things progressing in the right direction and I am really looking forward to having a full pre-season with the players to build on that.
“Coming in midway through a season is not ideal because it takes time to get ideas across. I believe all clubs should start a season looking to win their league and we shall prepare with that in mind.
“Today we won most of the battles and that enabled us to dictate how the game was played.
“We could have been more clinical and won by a bigger margin. But I couldn’t be happier with how the players have applied themselves in recent weeks.
“No one is getting carried away. But there is cause of encouragement and optimism looking ahead.”
Evans questioned the penalty award, but admitted his team could have no complaints about the outcome.
“We were clearly second best today. Bristol City were technically better than us, but I was proud of the way my players stuck to their task,” he said of the Millers who are headed for League One.
“Tom Eaves had a great chance to open the scoring. They will say their goalkeeper made himself big for the save, but it was a key moment because goals change games.
“I would like to have seen how we performed if taking the lead. But it wasn’t to be and then the referee has made a mistake for the penalty.
“I thought at the time that Tommy Conway went down late and having seen the incident again I know he wasn’t fouled.
“There was not much we could have done about the free-kick, although again I wasn’t sure it was a foul.
“But the players kept going to the very end. This is one of the biggest challenges I have taken on, but I am confident that we can bounce back next season.
“I am preparing a document for the chairman which will lay out my views and plans to get us back into the Championship.
“He wants me to be brutally honest and that will be the case. I will deliver the document next week and then the hard work begins.”
