Jarrod Bowen might have wanted his first competitive game as West Ham United skipper to end in a different fashion, but he felt there were still plenty of positives to take forward from Saturday's Premier League opener against Aston Villa.
The Irons found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-1 defeat to the Villans, after Jhon Durán struck the decisive goal eleven minutes from time to settle an entertaining clash at London Stadium.
Earlier Lucas Paquetá had cancelled out Amadou Onana's early header with a 37th minute penalty, setting his side up for a strong start to the second half.
Although a second for the Hammers would not come, Bowen saw enough during that period to suggest his side will soon gain positive results under new Head Coach Julen Lopetefui.
The Irons next head to Crystal Palace for a Selhurst Park derby (Saturday 24 August, 3pm BST), with Bowen keen to get the campaign up and running there.
"On another day [our second half chances] go in and it's a different story, but I think it was one of those games where the first goal was gifted - I feel like we could have done more, especially from a set-piece - and we did well to get back into it," the new skipper explained.
"Lucas took his goal really well. We controlled the game a little bit more in the second half and had some chances to go ahead in the game.
"We didn't and they obviously scored to make it 2-1. We had a couple more big chances, but this is a results game, we're sat here with zero points and you want to start the season on the front foot with three points.
"That's it, it's the first game, there's 37 more and we need to go to Crystal Palace next week with the same attitude, the same intensity, the same fight and take our chances."
A more precise nature in the final third will be the key improvement Bowen says the Hammers must take into the week ahead, having seen several promising attacking movements not yield the final reward against Villa.
With the new Head Coach beginning to make his imprint on the team, Bowens is adamant that work on the training pitch is bound to bring swift results.
"We got into some really good positions and there were times where we gave the ball away and times where it was the final finish and putting the ball into the back of the net," he added.
"You could [the impact of the new Head Coach] with the way we pressed higher up the pitch. We turned the ball over a few times in really dangerous positions.
"I thought there were signs with the ball too. We spoke about the final ball not being right, but those positions we got in, with the interchange and link-up play, the crosses and the numbers we got into the box [were there] and on another day those chances fall for us and they go in.
"It's a really exciting time with the new manager and new ideas. There were signs today that there were things that were clicking and coming into play. Now it's down to us to show it.
"There are positives there to take for sure, but like I said before we're in a results business. We've lost the game and we're disappointed with that."
