CARLTON coach Brett Ratten says he regrets the Blues' loss lost his final game as in charge, but he was proud of his players' efforts during their 15-point loss to St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
 
The Blues were in a winning position deep into the last quarter despite poor kicking - they had 31 scoring shots to the Saints' 26 - and despite losing Chris Yarran and Chris Judd to hamstring injuries during the second quarter.
 
The Saints overran the Blues by kicking the last five goals, ensuring a disappointing finish to Ratten's five-year tenure as coach.
 
"I'm just a passing piece of history at the football club," Ratten said.
 
"At the end of the day, I didn’t want to make it about me.
 
"It was a game of football.
 
"We were here to get the four points, but we missed that opportunity."
 
When asked if there was a moment during the match when his emotions were pricked, Ratten said there were 19 moments, referring to the Blues' tally of behinds.
 
Midfielder Brock McLean said the Blues players were bitteely disappointed to have lost the last two games of the season.
 
After defeating Essendon by 96 points in round 21, they lost to Gold Coast by 12 points and St Kilda.
 
"We were just really keen for some sort of atonement after the loss to the Suns last week," McLean said.
 
"It was disappointing we didn’t get the result wanted, but you couldn't question the guys' effort or the way they went about it."