Phil Parkinson reckons Bolton Wanderers needed to show more quality in their attacking situations after the Trotters' 1-0 defeat to Burton Albion on Saturday afternoon.
The Trotters began brightly, with Will Buckley and Gary Madine both going close before Lloyd Dyers' volleyed opener put the Brewers ahead 23 minutes in.
And that was the cue for Albion to shut up shop and record their fifth clean sheet on the road this term and only their second win of the campaign away from home.
Bolton came back in a desperate bid to ensure they didn't end the day rooted to the bottom of the Championship, but it wasn't to be despite Darren Pratley and Karl Henry going close just after the second-half, prompting Stephen Bywater to be at his very best to deny two quick-fire headers.
And Wanderers boss Parkinson was well aware of how Albion's would go about the game once they did find that crucial opener.
"The lad hit it from the edge of the box and it went through a load of legs and into the net," Parkinson said of Dyer's goal.
"From there, Burton were always going to sit back and defend, make it difficult.
"Burton have done that in the past where they come, sit back and hit you on the counter and they were difficult for us to break down.
"After the goal it was always going to be a game of few chances but we needed to take the ones we did create.
"We couldn't find that moment of quality to take our chances. We had them before they scored and we didn't make their keeper work enough.
"When we did hit the target it was hit straight at him. We needed someone to be calm and stick the ball in the back of the net from a chance or a set play, and settle everyone down.
"The attempt they've scored with, we've had four or five similar situations where we haven’t made the goalkeeper work or it's straight at him.
"We needed to show more quality in those situations. It's a hugely disappointing afternoon for us and we need to make sure we dust ourselves down and come back strongly from this defeat."
Despite the loss to fellow relegation battlers, Parkinson reckons that it's not a season-defining loss and merely a setback.
Indeed, nothing is settled in December - but there's no escaping what three points to Burton could mean come the end of the season.
And with that feeling prevalent, Parkinson was keen to stress that all is not lost just yet at the Macron Stadium.
"It's always going to be tight with the way the results have gone today," he added.
"We just need to make sure that come January, we have picked up enough points to stay in contention.
"We've played well at home recently and picked up some great results. Today is a setback but it is not going to completely define the season."
