The word being used most often in the wake of the 3-2 defeat by Leicester City was 'pride'.
Assistant manager David Kelly used it to make the point that he and boss Billy Davies had engineered an incredible turnaround from the position they inherited.
"Don't forget that when we came in 15 games ago, we were in an extremely difficult position," he said, claiming that the Reds are just at the beginning of a journey back to the top-flight.
"If you had asked anybody if we could take it down to last moment of the last game of season, I'm sure everybody would have said that you are all mad."
Striker Simon Cox opened the scoring against the Foxes and said afterwards: "With all the changes that have gone on, with the additions we made in the summer – we had a brand new team – and the three changes in manager, the lads can take massive pride."