There was no doubt in the minds of Nigel Clough or Jake Buxton after the 4-0 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on September 30.
The second international break of the Championship season had come at a good time for Burton Albion.
But with another break on the horizon after Saturday's trip to Millwall, they will absolutely not want to be left saying the same thing again.
After that Wolves game, memories of the Brewers' impressive victory over Fulham and a fine goalless draw at Queens Park Rangers were still fresh in the memory.
As disappointed as Burton were, they could point to the quality - and eye-opening amount spent - of Wolves and the Aston Villa side that had also put four past them earlier in the week.
Crucially, too, they sat outside the relegation zone by a point.
Fast forward five weeks, and that Fulham match remains as Albion's most recent victory - and three successive defeats have left them two points adrift of safety.
In the four games since that last international break, they have so far picked up only one point.
The biggest frustration in recent days, as Clough, Andy Garner and the Burton players have repeatedly spoken about, is that they are not playing badly.
Had they been more ruthless in the first halves of the losses to Nottingham Forest, Ipswich Town and Barnsley, or shown more resilience and a greater discipline to avoid slips in defence after the break, the Brewers could easily be five or six points better off.
But they are not. They have to find a better balance between attack and defence, and they need to be at the top of their game for a full 90 minutes to start turning performances into results.
There is only so much positivity and momentum you can build from promising displays - and the Brewers need some of that positivity pretty quickly, with Clough admitting they felt 'demoralised' after the recent losses.
The season is not yet a third of the way done, of course.
Ahead of the clash with Millwall, there are still 93 points for Burton to play for.
Albion will not be ignoring the comments made by captain Buxton last week, though, when he recalled how his relegated Wigan Athletic side almost became accustomed to being in the bottom three last season.
That is not a trait Burton want to replicate, and a positive result at the Den this weekend will provide a welcome jolt, whether it moves them out of the relegation zone or just pushes them closer to the sides above them.
It will also send them into the international break on a high, regardless of the results that have gone before.
While four points from this five-game block would still be seen as under-par, a victory - or even a draw, in the right circumstances - would give Albion something to build on, a springboard from which to jump into some crucial games late in November and at the start of December.
Clough knows one single result can help shift the momentum of a season.
On the back of three defeats in their first three league games of this campaign, Burton produced a stunning second-half comeback against Birmingham City to win 2-1 and spark a run that would see them lose only once in six matches.
How they would love a similar spark now.
That will be the focus travelling to Millwall, where Albion will face as stern a test as they have been given all season on the road.
If they can pass that test, they will look at the 13-day break during the internationals as an ideal chance to refuel and prepare for what lies ahead.
The thought of spending that same break reflecting on another frustrating defeat and the potential sight of their relegation rivals edging further away will be all the motivation they need at the Den.
