Steven Schumacher expressed his pride as Stoke ended their season in style with a 4-0 thrashing of Bristol City.
The Potters secured a third successive victory for the first time since October as they finished 17th, six points above the Sky Bet Championship’s relegation zone.
First-half strikes from Luke Cundle, Tyrese Campbell and Million Manhoef handed the hosts total control.
And Manhoef completed his brace after the interval with a spectacular strike from range to cap off an impressive win.
Stoke now finish the campaign on the back of only one defeat in eight games, with optimism renewed in the Potteries.
“If we could play like that every week, that’d be good,” said boss Schumacher.
“It’s a good performance and a nice way to end the season; we didn’t take them (Bristol City) lightly and they’re in brilliant form.
“I’m delighted that the season’s ending – we need a break, but the last few performances have been good.
“It was important to continue that momentum and the team’s picked itself because of how good the performances have been.
“Everyone’s played their part and it was a whole team effort and it’s a good way to end the season.
“I know the task we’ve got on for the summer; we need to get the recruitment right and make sure everyone’s on the same page.
“We have to draw a line under this season and work as hard as possible to get the right people in the building.
“We should be doing better than where we are now. If I can get my message across to the recruitment team, then I think we’ll be all right.
“This league has been really strong this year; it’s been a hard season, but we’ve just about done enough.
“But for this club, this shouldn’t be what we’re striving for and that’s certainly not what I’m here for.”
Meanwhile, Bristol City’s seven-match unbeaten run drew to an end in disappointing fashion.
The Robins suffered a first defeat in six matches on their travels to the bet365 Stadium as their campaign ended with a whimper.
“It was really out of character and nothing what we’ve been like in the previous seven games,” said boss Liam Manning.
“We rightly so went one behind and then we completely imploded in the last three minutes of the first half.
“To go in at 1-0 is very different from going in at 3-0, so the second half becomes too big of a challenge.
“Sloppiness is a lack of focus; the players are honest and none of the lads want to perform at that level.
“It wasn’t intentional, we compounded a mistake by following it with another one and didn’t do the basics well.
“We don’t want to lose in that manner but at least we can send the lads away and say ‘that can’t happen again’.
“That’s the motivation to come back for day one of pre-season and make sure we’re not anywhere near that level again on a bad day.
“It was a disappointing end but I don’t want it to cloud all the progress that has been made.
“You have to look at the bigger picture; we’ve moved up the division and got more points than last year in probably one of the hardest Championships.
“We’ve got some hugely talented players and we’ve got to add to that now.”
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