“BE gentle,” pleaded Danny Wilson to the assembled press as he came in for his post-match briefing.

And that was arguably the biggest problem with his side’s Wembley performance. Particularly in the opening 45 minutes, Town were too lightweight against a Millwall team who relish imposing themselves on opponents and bullying them into submission.

That is exactly what the Lions did – partly down to their own willingness - and also because Swindon allowed them to do just that.

Scott Cuthbert and Jonathan Douglas aside, there appeared to be little fight in the side and the creative source of wide men Jon-Paul McGovern and Danny Ward were stifled throughout.

Apart from Charlie Austin’s one-on-one, only a last gasp half-chance from the striker and a Lecsinel Jean-Francois header tested Millwall keeper David Forde – nowhere near enough to win a final.

Not for the first, or last, time the controversial Wembley pitch played its part. When Austin broke through, there would probably not have been a single person inside the national stadium who thought the ball would end up anywhere but the back of the net.

As it was, it flew at least two yards wide of the target thanks to a nasty bobble up onto the striker’s shin.

The Lions looked dangerous throughout. A robust spine of centre-back Paul Robinson, midfielder Liam Trotter, and the excellent Steve Morison up front caused no end of problems from the first minute to the last, and fully deserved their victory after missing out in the final last year.

Potentially, we could now see the break-up of this over-achieving Town side.

Loanees Stephen Darby, Alan Sheehan, Simon Ferry, Danny Ward and Frank Nouble will all return to their parent clubs this week, while 29-goal top scorer Billy Paynter is yet to sign a new deal and others like Craig Easton and Michael Timlin are also out of contract this summer.

That is not even considering the host of clubs who will be monitoring the progress of Austin.

So it will be an important summer for Wilson and chairman Andrew Fitton. Firstly, to make the squad believe they can bounce back bigger and stronger from this setback.

And secondly, to rebuild a side capable of going one better next year and putting in an ultimately successful challenge for honours.

But above all, even though Saturday was a bitterly disappointing afternoon for all involved, it must be put into perspective.

Some pundits were tipping Swindon to struggle this year, and most people would have been delighted with a top 10 finish.

Instead, Wilson guided his side to doubles over Southampton and Leeds, impressive performances in the cups against Premier League outfits and going to within 90 minutes of both automatic promotion and a play-off final victory.

Once the disappointment has subsided, a huge sense of pride should shine through.