Pompey fell agonisingly short in their quest to bring Championship football back to Fratton Park.
Their bid for automatic promotion only came to an end in the penultimate fixture, while Sunderland just edged a tight two-legged encounter in the play-offs.
Kenny Jackett believes there are plenty of positives for his troops to take from the 2018/19 campaign.
But he knows they cannot afford to rest on their laurels, with a new challenge looming after the summer break.
The Blues boss said: “We’re frustrated with the way it all finished, having not won any of the last five games.
“Three of those were against a club the size of Sunderland and we couldn’t find a way of catching the top two or winning the play-offs.
"We need to make sure we remain consistent and mould a side that can compete again in the top half of this league."
“Everyone at the club – the players in particular – gave it a good go and it was a high points total in what was an exciting season.
“Now we need to make sure we remain consistent and mould a side that can compete again in the top half of this league.
“We also have to look at the likes of Bradford and Scunthorpe, who have been regular play-off contenders in recent years.
“But they finished in the bottom two places this season and we don’t want to fall away ourselves because a lot of people have worked hard to build this club.
“You can look at a lot of what we’ve done and it’s difficult to criticise the players. We have to put that behind us, though, and look ahead.
“Our aim is to be competing for promotion again – that where we want to be and we’ll be working hard over the summer.”