Rob Page says Friday's embarrassing defeat to Armenia might be 'the slap in the face' Wales need to kickstart their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, but admits the upcoming clash with Turkey is now likely a must-win for his side.
Wales were humbled 4-2 at the hands of the visitors on what was arguably one of the lowest ebbs of Page's reign.
When asked to try and put his finger on what exactly went wrong tonight, Page admitted too many members of his team fell short of previous standards.
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"That wasn't us at all by any stretch of the imagination," he said. "We got off the best possible start. We said we needed to get off to a good start and get an early goal, which we did and we created a couple of chances after that, but we weren't clinical.
"When you play the way we play against their formation, you have to be compact as a team and we were far too expansive tonight and got done on four transitions. They were probably the worst goals you're ever going to see.
"They were clinical."
This defeat comes after what has been a particularly gruelling season for several members of the squad, while others have perhaps not had an ideal number of minutes under their belts.
However, Page admits he was as shocked as anyone at the level of performance from some players, following what he claims was an upbeat camp this week.
He has now urged his side to use the disappointment of this humiliation as fuel to propel their qualifying campaign.
"Everything happens for a reason," he said. "Perhaps it's the slap we need. A bit of a reality check. Everybody's getting starry eyed and carried away. We had a great start in March but there aren't any bad teams any more.
"Teams are going toe-to-toe and we've had a slap tonight.
"I didn't know it was needed before the game. I felt in such a positive place coming into the game. i didn't see that coming. It's shocked me as much as anyone else tonight.
"We all said this morning when we had a staff meeting that this has probably been the best camp. The environment was great.
"The work we've done. We've put a lot of work into them. The detail of the game and we've gone out and in the first 10-15 minutes I thought we did okay. We got off to a good start.
"Defensively, we've been solid. I always reference Croatia away. To go and get a result like that in Croatia you have to be organised. You have to be hard-working. You have to be solid from top to bottom. Today we weren't.
"I'll never question the attitude of those players. We as coaches, we take the responsibility. The attitude of the players has been incredible all week. We'll be up first thing in the morning, we'll watch it back and we'll learn from it. The positive is we've got a game on Monday to put it right."
But despite his concerns over the expansiveness of his side, Page insisted he had no regrets over his XI.
"I would maybe make some changes sooner," he added.
"It's easy to say after a defeat [that it was too attacking], but when you're playing a home game that on paper is a winnable game, you want to go for it.
"I've gone with what I thought was right and I wouldn't change it."
Wales head to current group leaders Turkey on Monday knowing that another defeat would blast a gaping hole in their qualification hopes, and admits it's already perhaps a must-win for his team.
"Probably [it's a must-win]. We'll take a point, of course we will, away from home, but our intention is to go there and win."
One slight cause for positivity on an otherwise wretched night was the return of David Brooks, who came off the bench midway through the second half to make his return to the international stage for the first time since beating cancer.
"It was the only positive," Page continued. "He's just class. Every time he got the ball he looked forward and there was an option and I'm really pleased for him and the reception he got.
"That's the only positive to come out of tonight."
