West Ham United debutant Aaron Cresswell felt the Hammers would likely have been comfortable victors against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, had they struck the first blow at the Boleyn Ground.
Making his first appearance in the Barclays Premier League, the 24-year-old looked at home in the Hammers' back-four, one that was ultimately breached by Eric Dier in the dying seconds.
While he was in no mood for personal accolades, Cresswell was voted Man of the Match by sponsor Blueprint Properties and understandably proud to have made his top-flight bow.
"I had all my family here and it was a proud moment for me personally," he told West Ham TV. "But it's not about me, it's about the team and getting the three points. It's not personal, it's not about individual performances. The first thing you look at is the result and we didn't get that on Saturday, so I'm very disappointed."
In a tight affair, the first goal was always going to be all-important and Cresswell insists the Hammers should have made more of the chances that fell their way before the interval.
He continued: "We had a good few chances in the first half and we had the better chances. We just needed to take one to go on and win the game. Unfortunately, in the end we got punished.
"We were always on the front foot in the first half and obviously when they went down to ten men, up until James Collins' sending off, we were the team to looking to score. But when we lost James it was anyone's game, it was an open game on a big pitch.
"It's a massive blow. We just needed that one goal to kick us on and I think we'd have went on to win two, or three-nil maybe. But it wasn't to be."
Looking ahead to next weekend's trip to Crystal Palace, Cresswell hopes the Hammers can learn the lessons from Saturday's loss and approach it with optimism.
"We'll sit down, go over it, see what we can take out of the game and where we could have gone on to win it," he explained.
"It's just about taking the positives into the next game and looking forward to it."