KIDDERMINSTER boss John Eustace felt his players didn't believe in themselves enough as they suffered play-off disappointment against Bradford Park Avenue.

Harriers saw their promotion dreams dashed with a 2-0 quarter-final defeat at Aggborough on Wednesday night.

It's the second time in successive seasons that the Reds have suffered play-off heartache.

Eustace said: "Everyone is really disappointed. We certainly didn't want to finish the season like that but fair play to them (Bradford), they came and played really well. Good luck to them and hopefully they'll clinch promotion.

"I think we started quiet nervously really. We certainly didn't get our passing game going.

"We grew into the game and had some good chances at the end of the first half and in the second and were disappointed we didn't take them.

"In tight games we need people to stand up and be clinical.

"I'm disappointed for the lads really because they put so much hard work into it everyday to play a certain way.

"In these big, big games I'm just disappointed they don't go out and really fully believe in themselves.

"You could see there was three or four that were nervous tonight and that's part of having a young group and hopefully they come back stronger."

Eustace also underlined how important it is for Harriers to keep hold of their talented young players as they look to recover from the end-of-season set-back.

The boss knows just how important it is to have a better summer compared to 12 months ago.

He added: "It's important the club keep as many of the players they can going into next year because they certainly don't want a situation we had last summer with three starters in the play-offs coming back for pre-season.

"Hopefully the club can keep as many players here as possible and really have a good push next year."