Martin Jol is delighted with the progress at Tottenham Hotspur despite Thursday's UEFA Cup exit to Sevilla ending his hopes of bringing silverware to White Hart Lane this season.
Jol's men were undone by two strikes in the first eight minutes from the Spanish visitors - an own goal from Steed Malbranque and a smart finish from former Spurs striker Frederic Kanoute.
It left the hosts needing four goals to reach the semi-finals and, although Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon pulled two back, Spurs exited their third competition this season at the latter stages.
'It's April and we're out of another cup, we played in all the cups and I feel it was an exciting year for us,' said Jol following the 4-3 aggregate defeat.
'If we can do the same next year we will have had a good year. We have to learn, we have a new team with exciting players but we have to defend as well.'
Sevilla were already leading 2-1 from the first leg when Malbranque sliced into his own net after three minutes, with Jol questioning the Frenchman's positioning while defending a corner.
'If you go on the outside of the post you have a problem,' said the Dutchman. 'If he was on the inside he could have cleared it.'
Kanoute extended their advantage when he exchanged passes with Aleksandr Kerzhakov before shimmying past goalkeeper Paul Robinson and finishing.
Jol was pleased with his side's second-half response, with Defoe scoring with his first touch after coming off the bench and Lennon levelling the score on the night with 23 minutes remaining.
'In the positive side we did better than you can expect of a side that is out of the UEFA Cup because if you have to score four goals it's virtually impossible,' added Jol.
'The only thing now is to pick ourselves for the league because we are in a fine position.'
Spurs are seventh in the Premiership and head to Wigan on Sunday hoping to have more players back available.
Ledley King played against Sevilla after his foot problems, his first appearance since Boxing Day, while Ricardo Rocha was ineligible for the UEFA Cup.
Jermaine Jenas was fit to carry on despite being trodden on by Sevilla midfielder Christian Poulsen.
'That was a naughty situation,' Jol said. 'There was probably a little foul on Poulsen but he did it in such a professional way that you probably couldn't see that he did it on purpose.'
Teemu Tainio was sent off in stoppage time for a reckless challenge on Antonio Puerta.
