Reading manager Jaap Stam has praised his players' work ethic but admits that it feels "hard" to lose the Championship playoff final on penalties.

The Royals took on David Wagner's Huddersfield Town, but they failed to seal a place in the Premier League after getting beaten 4-3 in penalties at Wembley.

The contest was goalless after 90 minutes, and neither could find the breakthrough during half an hour of extra time, meaning that the winner was decided from the spot.

"You want to end the season well. It's a nice season but the final is there to be won," Stam told Sky Sports News. "We worked very hard today, it wasn't easy. To lose on penalties is hard.

"I've experienced it myself in my career. It's the cherry on the cake to win the game, but it's nobody's fault. I'm very proud of the team, what they've done, how hard they worked. They deserved to be here.

"If you don't want to play in this game, you should go and play in the amateur leagues. You could see at certain times the game was a bit reserved from both sides. You can never say to a player go and play the same as in the league because of the atmosphere.

"Hopefully we can do well next season, but to be honest I don't really want to think about that. We have this to overcome. We have our holidays and after that we'll think about next season."

Stam, who won five major trophies during a three-year spell at Manchester United, became Reading's manager last year.