Finn Russell said he was proud of Bath's performance in Saturday's Premiership final, despite defeat to Northampton Saints.
Bath had England prop Beno Obano sent off for a high tackle on 21 minutes, but remained in the contest throughout.
Northampton, who had Scotland prop Elliot Millar Mills on the bench, scored the winning try with seven minutes remaining through England scrum-half Alex Mitchell.
READ MORE: Finn Russell disappointment as Bath lose Premiership final
While admitting the defeat had not sunk in as he spoke to TNT Sports post-match, Scotland co-captain Russell said he was proud of the effort from his team.
He said: "The performance we showed today in the circumstances, we can be really proud of that.
"i would imagine 20 minutes in people would have written us off, especially when they got a couple of quick tries, but it showed the character we've built over this season, the belief and what we've got to look forward to for the next few seasons.
"It's tough to take just now and it's not really sunk in, but it's a performance we can be really proud of."
Despite losing a key player so early in the game, Russell said Bath's approach was not altered by playing an hour a man down.
"We just had to deal with the situation in front of us," the 31-year-old added.
"It's tough for Beno but as a team we showed what he means to us. We gave everything out there. We just stuck to what we've done over the season.
"It's always going to be tough down to 14 but the courage and bravery we showed was outstanding."
Two years ago, Bath finished bottom of the Premiership, but the introduction of former Munster boss Johann van Graan and the acquisition of Russell as well as the arrivals of Ollie Lawrence and Ted Hill have helped transformed the club.
While the season did not end the way he would have liked, their talismanic fly-half believes they will be even stronger next season.
Russell added: "Come next season we'll be in a better place. Everyone that is part of the club will grow from today,"
He also reflected on his debut season with the club, having arrived from Racing 92 following Scotland's World Cup exit.
"For me, it's the first time playing for a club in a rugby city. Bath is a massive rugby city and it's been amazing playing in front of the home crowd there.
"We didn't reach what we wanted to reach but we put a lot of character back into this top.
"The performance we had today showed how much this club means to the players. That's all we can do for the fans. I hope they are proud of how we played today."
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