Derek McInnes admitted his Rangers side are not yet ready for the rigours of the Europa League after they crashed out to Jagiellonia Bialystok.
The Ibrox manager watched his team draw 1-1 at home, losing the tie 3-2 on aggregate. Lawrence Shankland's first-half penalty cancelled out the Poles' lead from last week's 2-1 first-leg defeat, but Nik Prelec's second-half equaliser sent Bialystok through to the play-off round.
Rangers now drop into the Conference League for the first time in the club's history.
McInnes admits team not ready
McInnes said: "The club's built for the Europa League and Champions League. And that's the intention, to get there. But I'm not sure the team's quite ready for it at the minute."
He added: "And it pains me to say that, to be honest. It does. We need to get more quality. We need to try and get more confidence into the team. But there wasn't an outcome that we wanted."
Recruitment under scrutiny
Rangers' American owners faced a grilling from fans at this week's shareholder meeting, with complaints centred on recruitment mistakes. Deals for PSV winger Couhib Driouech and AEK Athens' James Penrice are understood to be close.
McInnes defended the transfer team, saying: "Until deals are done and over the line, it's tough for me to actually comment on that. You know, we're actively trying to get players in. The club is working so hard. I see it first hand."
He added: "I know Andrew Cavenagh said at the shareholders' meeting between three and five. So there's still a lot to do to get that type of number in."
Performance concerns
McInnes has overseen four games without a win. His side started brightly in a 3-5-2 shape and took the lead when former Celtic defender Yuki Kobayashi handled a cross from Daisuke Yakota.
But a switch to a back four at half-time handed the initiative to the Poles. McInnes said: "I think it was justified to be honest. It wasn't good enough. What we served up throughout the second half wasn't good enough."
He criticised the defending for the equaliser: "For us to lose the goal that we do, where it's your set play. I think the first forward pass that they play is in the bottom left-hand corner in front of Copland Road. And for it to end up scoring at the top right-hand corner in front of the Broomloan is just madness."
Bialystok now face Georgians Iberia 1999, while Rangers will meet Czechs Jablonec in the Conference League.
