Erol Bulut admitted his Cardiff City side must improve in attack if they are to improve their recent form after another frustrating defeat in front of home fans.
The Bluebirds were beaten 2-0 by Preston North End, who were pretty comfortable after weathering a 30-minute period of dominance by the home side.
City have been too reliant on set pieces this season and it showed again during the Lilywhites defeat. They were too easy to defend against in the wide areas, while their opportunities more centrally were reduced to shots from distance.
It's an area of the game in which Cardiff must improve. Couple that with throwing a bunch of new signings on the pitch together, as well as a returning Aaron Ramsey, and the Bluebirds have their work cut out to make those connections between players second nature.
"I’ve always said, because of these issues when we are attacking, when we lose the ball, the transition from offence to defence has to be quicker," Bulut said after the match.
"The first goal this is not the situation because we had enough players. We cannot lose these kind of situations.
"[The new signings] are not even one week here. It’s why I always said I’d like players at the start of January. Now we have a period where many games are close together. We have to continue to show them what they need to do. I hope the next few games will be much better.
"I think we need patience, all of us. We need patience in many things. Yes, we got four or five new players and we've tried to adapt them as quick as possible for the team today. Dave (Turnbull) had quite a good game, Nat Phillips was quite good. Wilson-Esbrand came in. They have to know their team-mates much better for those automatic movements. This will come in the next games and in those games we have to show it."
One the game itself, Bulut added: "We started a really good game. The first 30 minutes, until we conceded from their first shot. Then our confidence went a bit down.
"For their second goal, I thought there was a foul on Kion (Etete). The referee allowed a lot of fouls. We don’t play rugby – we play football. There were more faults from us – we can’t say this is why we lost the game – but these are key details.
"We are a good team from set-pieces. Generally, the game was under control. Three shots from the opponent, two goals. One-on-one situations in the box, defensive shape… normally it shouldn’t be like this. We shouldn’t get dribbled so easily in the box.
"It was a good counter-attack for their second goal. We tried many shots but we were not effective enough."
Mark McGuinness was out of the squad for the game against the Lilywhites with what was described as a "problem" with his hamstring. But that problem now looks like it will rule him out for the next couple of months.
"It looks like he will be six to eight weeks out with injury," Bulut said. "He is 22 years old and had a great season until now. Now we don't have him for the next games. I hope Nat (Phillips) and Dimi (Goutas) will manage it good together to be on the same level."
There were, however, one or two small positives from the defeat, the third home loss in a row. One of which was the 45-minute outing of Josh Wilson-Esbrand, who was arguably the best player in a blue shirt. The other was the return of Ramsey, who did look a little rusty, but can be forgiven after four months out.
On Wilson-Esbrand, Bulut said: "We can use him as a wing-back with five at the back, he can also play as a winger and as a number eight. He’s got a good left foot, a good crosser, he can dribble. He will add something to us."
On Ramsey's return, he added: "He was a long time away. Four months. It's not easy for him to come and change everything. OK he tried some times, in positions where he needed to give a pass, he tried to shoot, but this is normal.
"For him it's not easy after four months, to come back. Today it was 45 minutes and he will have minutes like this to adapt better into the game speed."
