Northampton Town defender Alan Sheehan summed up the thoughts of the squad after Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Accrington Stanley, and the man who recently captained Luton Town to back to back promotions is confident the Cobblers will pick up results as they adapt to life in League 1.
"Saturday was frustrating," he said. "We had taken four points from two league games ahead of Saturday and we wanted to build on that. We made a naive mistake early on and we need to be better, we know that.
"We prepared well for Saturday, but we didn't play to our maximum potential, we didn't do the basics well enough in tough conditions. We need to be more solid and we need to test their keeper more.
"Football is a strange game, things change quickly for better and for worse and it doesn't take much for things to turn one way or another.
"The margins are small. We have been competitive in every game. There are glimpses of things but we need to do better for longer and we need to iron out the mistakes.
"We will stick together, we will stand up to be counted and we will improve as we go along, I have seen enough to know that."
Sheehan also said the Cobblers can learn from the way Accrington protected their one goal advantage.
"Accrington killed the game in the second half and fair play to them," he said. "They broke up play, they took their time and any team would have done the same so they managed the game well and well done to them for that.
"Conceding an early goal gave them something to hang on to and that changes the game. It was tough to take but we have to be strong, we have to be adult about it and we have to bounce back.
"I have seen some good things from this season so far. Every game is tough at this level but I have seen enough to know we can improve and move forward. We need to stay positive, had we won Saturday we would have been in mid-table, it is that close. It is a long season, every team has their tough runs and you have to come through them.
"We have to be stronger, we have to manage games better and we have to be better. We have to stand up and demand that of each other.
"You need to use every edge you can to gain every little advantage you can. Every game is tight and on a knife edge and we need to be a little more streetwise in our play.
"We didn't create enough on Saturday but it suited Accrington to play on the counter and the early goal allowed them to do that. To be competitive in this league you need to stay in games and not give up early goals.
"We maybe lacked a little bit of quality at times but you cannot fault the effort and we will stick together."