Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuettl said Tuesday's Premier League record-equalling 9-0 defeat at Manchester United hurt much more than a similar loss to Leicester City in 2019.
Substitute Anthony Martial scored twice as United matched their 1995 win over Ipswich Town and Leicester's 9-0 thrashing of Southhampton. Hasenhuettl said his team did not need the heavy defeat to know they must improve.
"This time it's a completely different situation, not that it hurts less. The opposite. It hurts even more when you get this result again," Hasenhuettl, whose side are 12th in the table with 29 points from 21 games, told reporters.
"But the team is a different one now and it's the reason why we've played a good season so far, so let's see how the season ends. Better than the past, I think."
Southampton were weakened by injuries and played with 10 men from the second minute after midfielder Alexandre Jankewitz was sent off. They went down to nine men when defender Jan Bednarek was also dismissed four minutes from the end of the game.
They also had a man dismissed early in the Leicester defeat.
"We lost again in a horrible way. The same story, one man down - this time was after two minutes. Then 90 minutes can be long in the Premier League," Hasenhuettl said.
"I couldn't help them from outside as I had no alternatives, I had no (experienced) players on the bench. No alternatives in defence to defend better. A little bit helpless.
"It's a different situation to the first time because we've played a good season and we're in a position in the table where we haven't been for a long time."
Southampton face Newcastle United in the league on Saturday.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
