After keeping a clean sheet on the opening day of the 2018/19 campaign, Scott Brown was left frustrated on Saturday afternoon as Vale fell to defeat at Colchester United.
Neil Aspin's side struggled to get a foothold in the game and first-half goals from Courtney Senior and Ryan Jackson proved decisive as the U's secured all three points.
Despite the result, Brown insists that he and his teammates will learn from the defeat as they strive to bounce back with a positive performance.
He said" "I suppose one of the positives we would take out of it was that it was only 2-0. At half time, 2-0 down and the chances they had in the second half, it could have been four or five really.
"We stuck at it and actually defended okay in the second half because they had a lot of the ball and created a lot of movement. You have to credit them.
"Colchester have spent a lot of money in the summer and invested really well. They kept hold of Sammy Szmodics as well, and he is a massive player for them. They are going to be towards the top end of the league come the end of the season.
"We came looking for three points but you can't win every game and we will look to bounce back against Crawley. We will look at the video on Monday morning - look where we went wrong and where we can be better - because Crawley will certainly get the ball down, play and have some good movement."
Vale's uphill task became even greater before half-time as Tom Pope was forced off through inury, and the goalkeeper admits that losing that presence in the final third had an affect on the game.
With the Valiants back in action on Tuesday night as Lincoln City travel to Burslem in the Carabao Cup, Brown believes the squad have what it takes to respond to what was a difficult afternoon.
"We have a good squad spirit and a good team, but the manager is working on getting a couple more bodies in," he said.
"We really missed Popey as well when he went off. You have to have luck with injuries and keep the key players fit, so that was massive for us.
"A lot of our attacks start from goal kicks and, because Popey is so good in the air, when he was on he was taking up two players because Harry Pell did a really good job screening him, so that limited our supply.
"Hopefully we can get him back on the pitch as soon as possible because he is massive for the lads on the pitch and in the dressing room."