Ryan Kitto admits Adelaide United must quickly move on from its 3-0 defeat to Central Coast Mariners on Saturday night.
Adelaide’s resistance with 10 men was broken 13 minutes from time after Joe Gauci had been dismissed by the VAR in the 27th minute.
Kitto said the loss was frustrating and insisted the Reds must now shift their attention to a huge Original Rivalry clash next Saturday.
“It’s disappointing, it obviously hurts at the moment,” he told Network 10 after the game.
“We came here to win and only win.
“Obviously circumstances made it challenging, but we just regroup now and get ready for our game against Melbourne Victory.”
Gauci was initially brandished a yellow card for charging off his line and colliding with Marcos Urena before it was overturned.
Kitto refused to blame his teammate suggesting their defensive line was too high, allowing the Mariners forwards to get in behind.
“It happens, collectively it’s not just Joe (Gauci),” he said.
“Our defensive line is too high and we need to be side on and dropping.
“It’s not just him, it’s obviously disappointing what’s happened, but we now learn from it and move on.”
The 27-year-old said they aim to snap its three-game winless run against Melbourne Victory, in what is anticipated to be a cracking contest at Coopers Stadium.
Indeed, Gauci will be suspended for the match.
“We aim to do that this coming week against Victory,” he continued.
“It’s a massive game and hopefully we get a massive crowd and we can bounce back.”