Iain Darbyshire spoke to Cardiff City TV following our Champions League first qualifying round defeat to FC Twente.
The Bluebirds produced a valiant display against opposition of high quality.
"I think there's so many positives to take," Iain began. "I'm so proud of the players. For 70 minutes, we were competing and we were in the game against a team that are one of the best in Europe. There's no shying away from that. They played Ajax last weekend and beat them very comfortably and they're full time professionals, full of international talent.
"We can be so proud of what we've just done. We competed so well. First off, I thought we were unlucky to be losing at half-time. I thought we had some good opportunities and we caused problems, but also, we were so solid and I think everything we'd worked on in pre-season helped us.
"We've learned to play completely different, so the players have had to get used to that. We asked them before the game to give everything you've got, whether that's for 45, 60, 70 minutes per player."
The City boss continued by expressing his pride: "We had players limping off the pitch and players being carried because they've given everything they've got. I think that's all you can ask for and that shows how much they love Cardiff City."
"It shows how much they're proud to represent this Club in Europe. For us now, we can develop from this performance, we will take a lot from it. First of all, we've got a game on Saturday to prepare for now."
In line with the desire of the Women's programme to develop and give opportunities to young players, the average age of the matchday squad to face FC Twente was 22.85.
On the learning experience for the players, Iain concluded: "Our captain tonight is 19 years old, then you have 17 and 18 year olds in there as well. This is a fantastic experience for them.
"We have a new team this year. We've had some experienced players leave and we have brought in a lot of young players.
"We know we're on the right track, we're in a good position when we go back into our league. We'll be able to compete and take forward the knowledge and learnings from tonight."