Boss Chris Rawlinson wants Spalding United to bounce back in style before they take on promotion rivals Witton Albion again next month.
The Cheshire club took three points from the Sir Halley Stewart Field on Saturday thanks to Bradley Bauress’ goal on 11 minutes.
Spalding remain in third place in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League First Division South.
They are back home next weekend against Belper Town ahead of four successive away games – including the trip to Witton on April 6.
Rawlinson admitted: “We were poor in the first half on Saturday.
“I thought we were much better in the second half and probably the better side.
“They won the first half and we won the second half so a 1-1 draw would have been a fair result.
“They scored and hit the bar. We had two chances and didn’t take them – that’s the difference at this level.
“Witton looked sharper and having a few players unavailable has probably cost us if you want to win these games. I thought in particular we missed Nathan Whitehead in midfield. We couldn’t get going early on.
“We can take confidence that for long spells we were as good as them, if not better.
“But we were not good enough in the first half. There was a bit of arguing creeping in and we had to stamp that out.
“I was angry at half-time. It was frustrating because we had a bad 20-minute spell. We were not ourselves.
“We came out stronger in the second half and I thought we responded well.
“We’re not a million miles away but we have to bounce back with a win next time. It’s critical we manage that.
“After the defeat to Shaw Lane last month, we bounced back with six points.
“We’d like to do the same again before we play Witton away on a Thursday night.”