NorthEast United head coach Gerard Nus wants his players to learn from their mistakes following the 2-4 defeat against Hyderabad at the Tilak Maidan on Friday.
The Highlanders did well in the first half to claw their way back into the game from being two goals down to heading into the break with the scores level at 2-2. However, Liston Colaco came off the bench and scored twice to hand NorthEast a defeat.
"The first half was great, there was a desire to come back. We have to score more, simple as that. We kept creating chances and then conceded easy goals," Nus said after the game.
Luis Machado was substituted in the second half when the scores level but Nus denied suggestions that it was a defensive change.
"It was not a defensive plan. It was because we can only play with five foreigners and he (Machado) had gotten a yellow card."
The Highlanders are now winless in six matches. Their last win came against East Bengal on December 5 and the head coach has reaffirmed the need to learn from their mistakes and show character in the upcoming fixtures.
"Here we are, a group of mature players, we need to learn from the mistakes. It is a test of character. It is about to analyze, get good rest and recover.
"I don't think about the table too much. We have 10 more games so a lot of games and chances to come back stronger. We are the only team that beat the best team in the league Mumbai City. In many games, we deserved to win."
Nus also doesn't believe that his team is dropping points due to getting the gameplan wrong.
"There are many reasons to choose one starting lineup over another. Sometimes it is about injuries, about opponents and how we can hurt them. Why we didn't get the result might not be because the plan was not the right one," he concluded.