After only a second Championship defeat of the season for Nottingham Forest, head coach Sabri Lamouchi is eager to retain a sense of perspective.
Wigan Athletic joined West Bromwich Albion as the only two sides to have got the better of the Reds in the league, with Jamal Lowe’s first half goal the difference at the DW Stadium on Sunday.
Lamouchi’s men will now look to bounce back from “a bad day” when Hull City come to town tomorrow night, in the first of successive home games.
And the Frenchman says losing to the Latics “is not the end of the world” as his team aim to get their promotion push back on track.
“We have just been working together for three months. The players are still getting to know me,” said Lamouchi. “Training after training, game after game, that is getting better and better.
“But we just need time.
“The bad result at Wigan is not the end of the world. We have 34 more games to play until the end. I am sorry to say, but we will lose again.
“We just need to prepare ourselves to make sure we don’t repeat the same mistake.
“For the last game, I think, my players didn’t deserve this loss.
“Look at the numbers - possession, opportunities, chances, it was more than the other games. We just missed a lot.
“If we score, if we took one point, maybe three, nobody would be talking about it.
“It was just a bad day. That can happen, this is the Championship. But I cannot complain about my players.
“We just need to focus on the next one and the next one is tomorrow.”
The visitors had 58 percent of the possession at Wigan and managed 18 shots on goal, compared to their opponents’ 16 - albeit just two were on target.
Lamouchi is keen to see a response against the Tigers from what is likely to be a different starting XI.
“We cannot talk about the attitude after 12 games, because in 12 games our players have lost just twice,” he said. “The last one was on Sunday and the first one was in August.
“We just need to focus more, to be more determined, more aggressive and play as we know we can, and trust more in our quality.
“I am not worried. I am just disappointed and upset because I know my players, they are working hard. And I know what they deserved; they deserved better than the result on Sunday.
“It is not easy after a loss, but we have to keep working and keep going.
“We just need to think about the next one.
“The next one is a different story, different game, different players, different team. They are very good in the counter-attack, they have two good wingers.
“We must be ready for this game, at home.
“We need to make the fans proud and give our best performance for the best result.
“I trust that we can play much better, we can do much better - and we will try to do it tomorrow.”
And the former Rennes chief says lessons will have been learned from a below-par display in the north west.
“After every mistake, we have to learn; to make sure we don’t repeat the same mistake,” said Lamouchi.
“It was a bad Sunday, but we have now got the Hull game and we must focus on this one.
“It is really important to come back in the right way at home.
“It is good to have another game quickly because you don’t have time to be more worried.
“My expectation for tomorrow is just to try to play as we know we can - to be efficient and determined.
“At home, it is necessary to take the maximum points.”
