Justin Edinburgh speaking to us after the playoff defeat.

I felt we only competed well at our place in the second half and we've come up short but sometimes you can't always look at yourself, so applause to Oxford, credit to them and I wish them well in the final.

In the first half, you did everything right didn't you, it was still 0-0 and a very close game.

Well it was but I didn't feel we were in the game. I'm disappointed that we had too many passengers out there today and over the course of the two ties and if you had that many people that don't perform to their maximum, you're going to come unstuck and that's what we did today.

One of the players who didn't perform was Tomlin.

I'm not going to name individuals, this team have come a long way in a short space of time and it was phenomenal for us to reach the playoffs but once we got there we wanted to compete but hopefully we can use these moments to reflect on and spur us on for bigger things maybe next season.

Were you 2 or 3 players short, or did you think you played the players you should have done in these two games?

No I don't think we were 2 or 3 players short, on paper I think we're as good as Oxford but their players have performed and have been able to deal with the atmosphere, the emotions and the big game nerves and we probably didn't do as well as we would have liked but the way we finished on Thursday, they were confident of going into the game on the front foot but we never got a foot hold and we never got a grip on the game as we have done for the majority of the season but it's 3 defeats in 24 games so I can only applaud the players rather than criticise them.

Without going into complete detail, what message did you give to the players in that dressing room after the game?

Well hopefully use these sad experiences to take us forward because what we have done is let ourselves down at the final hurdle and we've got to take that through the summer and that'll hurt because it's hurting me and it's hurting this group of players, there's no doubt about that, there's a lot of down bodies in there and a lot of tears. So we've got to make sure we draw on these experiences come pre season to make us better and I expect this group of players to do that.

A couple of changes from the first leg, what was the reasoning for them?

Well I felt that we needed to a little bit more physical, as we got outmuscled at times in the first leg and I thought when Jeff came on he played well for us and to be fair Oxford were playing on Kurt Robinson a bit in the first leg so you make these decisions. Today I made some changes, people can criticise me for them, it's easy to analyse and the changes didn't come off.

And the 2 goals, any criticisms for those?

I'll have to look at them to be fair, we're disappointed because we haven't really been opened up like that this year, I'll need to have a look at them and see where we were. We weren't as compact as we have been throughout the season and we looked a little bit stretched at times.

I think we've said all along that with the squad you've got and the budget you've got, it's been a great achievement in any case where your side has come since last season.

It's a monumental achievement for this group of players, the budget speaks for itself, it's a bottom 10 budget, we've been competing with the best 4 teams in this league who are up there rightly so because of what their financial backing gives them and we've pushed everyone all the way, we've probably sparred instead of punched today which is disappointing but fair play to the 2 teams that have made the final and I wish them all the best of luck.

I suppose as a manager, even here watching it, there's a feeling of they didn't play as well as we know they can, that must really hurt.

Of course, my emotions are running high but I'm not going to criticise them because that would be unjust and unfair, they'll be disappointed that they didn't play to their ability over 2 legs and only had one good quarter where they performed and the rest we haven't and if you do that you'd be really lucky to progress and we've come up short.

The atmosphere here was fantastic, do you think the players handled that?

Well maybe some did and some didn't, we'd prepared exactly how we had done all season, the preparation was right and had a full squad to choose from bar 1 or 2 and maybe some of them haven't managed their nerves to the occasion but that'll stand them in good stead for further big games and we've got to make sure we don't stumble at this hurdle again. What I will say and what I will applaud is the travelling Rushden fans who were outstanding from start to finish, they've been that all year and I'd like to thank each and every one of them that have been home and away this year, they've been immense and I'm sure they're hurting like we all are but we'll stick together, come back stronger next season, it's going to take a big push to get to where we were this season and if we don't, it won't be for the lack of trying.

What about the players who are out of contract, whether any clubs might try and take any away from Rushden.

Well this is obviously where my work starts again, we'll have another 24 to 48 hours to assess things and we'll have the players back on Friday, I know which players I want to retain and keep and hopefully we can get that done quickly and efficiently and keep the nucleus of this squad together, add 4, maybe 5 players in pre season and hopefully we can have another great season like we had this season.

Most Rushden fans will want to know for certain if you're back next season?

I need to reflect on this season, I can assure you that I have a fantastic relationship with the chairman here who's backed me and been good to me. I feel that there's a great atmosphere and togetherness at the club, there's 1 or 2 little things to iron out but I don't foresee any problems and what I do see is me, the fans, our club and our players coming back stronger and hungrier for next season.