Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Richard Stearman has described his side as "naive" after they lost 2-1 at relegation-threatened Cardiff City on Tuesday night.
The result meant that the Midlands side have won just once in their last 12 league outings and left them just two points off the relegation zone.
"If we play with that naivety and we have a lack of men out there we're going to concede goals and not pick up the points that maybe some of our play deserves," Stearman - currently on loan from Fulham - told the Express & Star. "That's why we find ourselves near the bottom of the league.
"It really hurt, very much so. We were gutted we didn't at least got a draw – we've really got to see those games out if we want to do anything in this division. We've got to learn quickly how to see games out. You saw how Cardiff did it. It's very frustrating to play against and it's something we need to learn. We knew their game plan would be to put the ball in the box – it's not pretty but that's obviously the way they're going. I felt we were a little bit naive, we gave away too many free kicks and throw-ins. Ultimately it's cost us.
"There are a lot of new faces, a lot of boys that maybe haven't got Championship experience that I think is vital, especially coming into the winter games. Going to places like Cardiff you've got to show real balls out there. If you don't you concede goals. It's ruthless, it's dog eat dog and if you're not up to the challenge you don't succeed. We go again on Saturday, we try and learn from our mistakes. It'll be another tough game. We've got to start picking up points quickly."
Next up for Paul Lambert's side is a trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
