Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt rued his "unrecognisable" side after they were beaten 2-0 by Oxford United in the Sky Bet League One Play-Off Final at Wembley.
The Trotters missed out on automatic promotion but entered the Play-Offs as the highest ranked team after finishing third.
They were outclassed by an organised and impactful Oxford at Wembley though, and missed out on returning to the Championship for the first time in five years.
"We have to soul search and think about what happened and how do we get better," Evatt told Sky Sports.
"I’m almost shell shocked because you’ve not seen us play like that all season."
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Two first-half Josh Murphy goals proved the undoing of the Whites, and Murphy could have scored more, while Evatt's side failed to register a single shot on target against a team they beat 5-0 in March.
"I can’t explain it really. It’s not really the time to go into too much detail but that was unrecognisable for us," said Evatt.
"We’re at our best when we’re fast, aggressive and energetic but from the start it wasn’t there.
"Whether it was the occasion or pressure I don’t know but it was unacceptable and I apologise to the supporters who came here and witnessed probably our worst performance of the season.
"I don’t think we handled today well at all on the pitch. Credit to Oxford I thought they were excellent. We looked slow and lethargic.
"I don’t think there was complacency, I think maybe a fear and sometimes fear stops you. It stopped us today."
Evatt added losing Randell Williams to injury before the game and Paris Maghoma in the second half was not a major factor in the performance.
“It was a blow but in all fairness Kyle Dempsey came on and gave us some energy and the way we were playing it was hard to get Paris in the game anyway.
"I’ve been on the wrong end of these before and it stays with you all summer, it hurts.
"I’m not even thinking about next season, it’s hard to do right now. I can accept losing but what I can't accept is us being so under par. It's something we need to think long and hard about and I can just apologise to all the fans wo travelled long and far because it was unrecognisable."