SAM Ricketts believes Wanderers might have succeeded in their promotion chase had they appointed Dougie Freedman earlier in the season.

The Wales international is optimistic about the future after watching the ex-Crystal Palace boss turn round the club’s fortunes in the last three-and-a-half months of the campaign.

Freedman inherited a side sitting 18th and after a complete overhaul of playing style, began scaling the table at the start of February to climb from 20th to their final position of seventh.

Pride was stung after the club failed to secure victory over Blackpool on Saturday that would have guaranteed a play-off spot.

But in the light of the result, Ricketts questioned whether the decision to sack Owen Coyle after 10 league games was made early enough.

“It’s an anti-climax because we had given ourselves the opportunity and came from nowhere,” he said.

“You can see the way the gaffer wants to play, with and against the ball, and I think it has given us more of an identity.

“We were saying in the dressing room after the game, and I know it’s easy to say, but if the gaffer had come in earlier then it might have been a different story.

“You look forward to next season knowing we’ll have had a full pre-season under him and then see where that takes us.”

Freedman took over the team from interim management team Jimmy Phillips and Sammy Lee after 13 league games, and embarked upon a six-game undefeated run.

But his early reign was blighted by drawn games, and as the players came to terms with the new system he had installed, it was not until a month into the new year that tangible progress was made in the table.

Ricketts believes a full summer of work with the Glaswegian should make the club stronger for next season.

“When the dust settles and you start looking at the positives, the fact that we have got a little longer to work with the gaffer now, you would think he could improve us even more,” he said.

“We’re certainly capable of getting better and as an individual I always look to improve myself. If I can get a couple of per cent better then that makes the team better, and that is the way the gaffer works.

“The most important thing is the team and we need people pushing each other to become better.”

In failing to get promotion, Wanderers missed out on a guaranteed payout of £120million over the next four years – but they can bank on one further parachute payment of £16million from their time in the Premier League, with a further £16 million to be paid out over the next two seasons.

The likes of QPR and Reading, whose relegation from the Premier League is already confirmed, will already have a financial advantage on clubs in the division next season, with their parachute payment expected to be around £60million spread over four years - £12m more than Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers and Wolves pocketed.

How that affects planning for the future is as yet unclear, but Ricketts is confident the club will be able to challenge at the top again next season.

“I’m a player, so that kind of thing is out of my control,” he said.

“You could imagine there will be consequences to not getting back into the Premier League but the club is run fantastically well and we’re not in debt to banks.

"Clearly, Eddie Davies has pumped in a massive amount of money and we all understand that – but as to how the finances change from here, it’s down to the chairman and the owner.”