Paul Trollope believes that too many things were wrong when his team lost to Southampton last weekend.
The manager knows that defensively his side has a lot of work to do and he wants his players to start passing the ball better, and play to their strengths.
He told bristolrovers.co.uk: "We have looked long and hard at the Southampton performance. You can look at their quality and strength, but we look at what we do.
"It has been the case in recent years, that even if we have been beaten, that we have passed the ball well and there has been an edge to our play.
"There were too many things wrong on Saturday for my liking, we didn't pass the ball anywhere near like we can.
"There were too many balls from back to front, which we cannot do, we haven't got the personnel to do it, and it is not what we do every day in training.
"There was a little bit of fear, maybe the confidence wasn't quite what it should be.
"We have spoken about it and looked at why, defensively there were some major errors that cost us goals, and I think they would have cost us goals against any team in the league.
"The players have responded very well, their application to the work - and there has been a lot - has been excellent, and we are looking to make sure we take that into the game."
And Trolls is looking to find consistency to get things back on the right track, and he is confident his players can fulfill their potential.
He said: "Consistency is the key to success and being in the upper echelons of the league. Every manager is trying to find that, and at the moment we do not have it.
"It is early on, we have a lot of new players, and a lot of young players who we can mould and hopefully improve as the season goes on.
"But we are confident of doing it. We are disappointed and hurt by a few of the defeats we have suffered, but there is no need to panic.
"We need to make sure we are a cohesive unit with and without the ball, and with every free week's training and every game that comes along, we think that will improve.
"We have a few players as well who have missed bits of pre season, missed bits at the club's they came from, so I think we will see fitness levels improve from one or two as well over the next few weeks."
And he believes that despite the poor results, things are moving in the right direction.
He said: "Everyone says about the difficult time, but we finished 11th last year and we were in the top ten all season, so if that represents a difficult time I am a little surprised.
"The difficult time was five years ago when we were in the bottom half of league two.
"We feel we have made progress both on and off the pitch, the structure of the club is a lot better and the squad is a lot better.
"This is a new group we have put together and at the moment we have got a few problems to iron out and a few issues.
"But we are pleased with the recruitment, that has not changed, we have brought some quality in, and it is about working to put it together and be cohesive as a team."
Trolls has been pleased with some of the individual performances he has seen from his players, but realises it is all about the team performance.
He said: "We are pleased with a lot of the individual performances of the players we have brought in, but it is a team game and we are looking for good team displays.
"That means we have to pass and move together not just individuals doing it.
"The same goes for the defending, we cannot just look at the back four and the goalkeeper, we need to defend as a team.
"At the moment there are a few issues in both our play and our defensive structure that we are working hard to eradicate and we know we have the personnel to do it."
The manager is currently waiting on the fitness of a couple of players who picked up knocks during the week.
But Dominic Blizzard, Carl Regan and Charlie Reece should all be back in contention.
Trolls said: "Mixed news on the injury front. Dominic Blizzard has returned to full training and Carl Regan has continued after being on the bench last week.
"Charlie Reece is making good progress and we expect him to be fit enough to travel. He took a whack on the ankle very soon after coming on on Saturday, but he had made a good recovery.
"Unfortunately Will Hoskins and Wayne Brown had a couple of niggles on Tuesday that we are not sure about.
"Wayne's was an ankle injury and Will has one on the inside of his foot, and they are both being assessed.
"It is 50-50 at this moment in time, they are both very keen to play, and we will be pleased to have them both fit."
Trolls could also be without on loan goalkeeper Mikkel Andersen who is currently away on international duty.
The keeper is away with the Danish U21 squad and is due to play tomorrow lunch time.
Trolls said: "He is expected to find out today whether he is playing tomorrow lunch time, but we are making a lot of effort to try and get him back by some means after the game.
"The game is a 1pm kick off but it is a long way from the airport so there are logistical problems and a lot to think about.
"If he plays a full game that might change the situation, but I cannot say one way or the other at the moment."
And the manager will have no problem about putting Mike Green in goal on Saturday.
He said: "He showed on a number of occasions through pre season what he is capable of.
"Unfortunately his competitive debut was on a bad night for us at Oxford, where he was by no means at fault for the score line.
"But I am sure it has left a bad taste in his mouth, and I am sure he is very keen to get back to competitive action to put that right.
"I have no qualms if we cannot get Mikkel back to put Mike in."
Oldham have had a good start to the season under new manager Paul Dickov and currently sit fourth in the league.
Trolls said: "Paul Dickov had a fantastic playing career and it is his first job in management, and I am sure he is trying to put his stamp on to how they do things and how they play.
"They have picked up some decent results. From our point of view, after last week's performance, it is about concentrating on what we do and the processes we need to put in a good performance both with and without the ball.
"That is the emphasis and that will continue right through to the game."
