"But, in terms of performance, nothing good about our in-possession game. The game demanded a much more intense in-possession game. We wanted to play quick and they didn’t allow that but we need to play quicker and find spaces quicker and that fell short.

"We defended more in the first half than was the plan, but we did do OK defensively. There are some half decent things to take from that. There was just some really weak things in the start of the second half and some attributes to that I didn’t like at all.

"The only good thing from the game is that it will be an even tougher game next week and, with that in mind, we have to improve massively and I have challenged everybody to look at today for a refence point and to go - 'I’m glad that happened because we got it out of the way for what the season brings'.

"We know where we are with the squad and we just have to keep going. We're crying out for fresh blood, the players are too.

"We are desperate for it in some areas of the pitch and this was another example of that."

On if he has seen the required level yet for the Premier League?: "Time will tell on that.

"All I do know is things are not where we want them to be and we know why. Some areas we haven't reached the potential yet and we know why and we need to make the squad stronger.

"That is what you need when you step up if you want to give yourself the chance to succeed in the league."