Andrew Hughes felt Preston North End made it too easy for Middlesbrough in the 4-0 defeat at the Riverside, but he was keen to not dwell on the result.
After a relatively quiet opening quarter of an hour, North End conceded three times in a 21-minute period to go into half-time with a mountain to climb.
Despite coming out with a bit more energy after a double substitution at the break, they couldn’t get on the scoresheet and Alex Bangura netted a 94th-minute fourth for the hosts.
Hughesy said: “It’s clear to say it wasn’t our best performance.
“The goals were too easy on our behalf. We planned to get them wide and they just came through the middle. It was just too easy and really disappointing.
“We should always have a solid base, to defend from the front to the back and we just didn’t do that tonight.
“We weren’t good enough today so it’s disappointing but we don’t want to dwell on it.
“The good thing is we’ve got a game on Friday [against QPR] to put it right so that’s where our focus is right now.”
North End went into the international break with two successive victories but have now lost back-to-back matches.
Having started the campaign with a remarkable unbeaten and winning run, Hughesy – who is feeling good after a return from injury – wants to put another positive streak together.
He said: “We started so well and we want to get back on that journey again so hopefully we can start on Friday.
“You know what the fixtures are like during Christmas and the New Year periods. It’s a busy time so we’ll have games after games after games so hopefully we can go on a run again.
“We just want to put things right from the last two games. Friday’s a biggie.”