We will have a full deck of cards next season – McKellar
Leicester's dejection at finishing well short of the play-off positions was compounded by the sight of their fierce rivals Northampton sitting at the top of the table.
Two years ago, Leicester had home advantage against Northampton in the semi-final and exploited it to set up a showdown against Saracens which they won with a late Freddie Burns drop goal.
They lost at Sale in last year's semi-final having seen head coach Steve Borthwick depart halfway through the campaign. Dan McKellar moved from Australia to take over last summer and was left to reflect on a campaign that started slowly and fizzled out in the closing weeks but in between showed signs of what may be to come.
They ended on a high with victory over an Exeter side that needed to win to make the top four and there were signs of the attacking game McKellar believes the Tigers will need to hone if they are to make an impact next season having secured five try bonus points all campaign, three against the bottom two clubs and one against Bath's second string.
“We saw a balance in our game against Exeter that we have been working hard on without seeing a transfer from the playing field,” said McKellar. “Our cores of defence and kick strategy were there but we played a bit of rugby and I loved our endeavour.
“It will give us confidence moving forward after what has been a tough year, starting with the World Cup, and we had injuries throughout. Unfortunately, you have these years but we will be better for it. It makes you appreciate the good times.”
McKellar, who left his role as Australia's assistant coach to join Leicester, will be bringing in an attack coach he expects to make a difference.
“It's a new coaching group, I'm new to this club, new to this competition,” he said. “One of the things I do well is listen and adapt and I'll make sure we are not sitting here in eighth position in 12 months' time.
“I knew coming here that it is a very different competition to Super Rugby and that I had to make sure my approach was what was required for this group and this league, but we did not get it right
“We fell away at the back end of games when we should have been storming home. If we had done that, then we would certainly be playing next week.
“We've had many conversions around what is required, because there are some things we have had to cope without that have made life pretty difficult. The club has been supportive and understand that. We will make sure we have a full deck of cards from a coaching and starting perspective for next season.
“Our physical preparation and our pre-season were tough and we probably went too hard too early. And did we peak early and burn the players out?”
Wing Ollie Hassell-Collins, below, was their top try scorer in the Premiership with eight and expects the way Leicester played against Exeter will be the template next season.
“The sun was out and we wanted to make sure we showed the progress we had made in attack and what we could do in transition,” he said. “That is exactly what we did. We moved the ball, had fun and enjoyed our rugby. I think it puts us in a good spot for next season and I am excited by the prospect of it.
“It is not quite gone how we wanted it to this season and where we are in the log is not ideal, but we showed against Exeter that we have something good to work with.”
