Great Britain's Davis Cup captain Leon Smith has confessed that his side 'lack depth' and must now rebuild following this weekend's disappointing showing against France in Rouen.
After failing to win a single set on the opening day of a tie in the competition for the first time since 2008 on Friday, Britain's misery was compounded yesterday when losing once more to crash to a 3-0 reverse.
Dom Inglot and Jamie Murray went the same way in their doubles match as Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans in the previous day's singles rubbers, being beaten in four sets to confirm GB's exit from the competition.
It is the first time in eight years that the nation - minus world number one Andy Murray this weekend - has been knocked out after two days, with Sunday's reverse singles now deemed void.
Captain Smith admits that more work needs to be done, telling BBC Sport: "A quarter-final, a win, a semi-final, a quarter-final - in decades previous you weren't getting that. It's a damn sight better than it used to be but there's work to be done.
"It's always really disappointing to lose because we've got used to going a little bit deeper into the year. But we played against a very good team and we've still maintained our World Group status, which is important for us. We want to make sure that we find a few more players both on the men's and women's side that are playing on the main tour.
"Everyone knows Andy was going to play this tie, so hopefully when Andy comes in everyone else is stronger and then you go again. We've had a great couple of ties this year, we've absolutely loved it, the spirit's still really good. We just lost a tennis match, that's it."
Britain had reached at least the semi-finals in their last two participations in the event, going all the way in 2015 to end their long wait for glory.
Daniel Lewis
