Aston Villa captain John McGinn urged perspective after defeat at home to Manchester United.
Scott McTominay jumped from the bench to head a late winner for the visitors as United won 2-1.
McGinn said: "It was a completely different performance [to their FA Cup defeat by Chelsea in midweek], a real sickener. We did more than enough to win the game. It felt like we had chance after chance in the second half and they just didn't go in. In this league you've got world-class players in the United changing room and it was one moment of sheer quality. We could have maybe defended it a bit better, but I know unfortunately that Scotty [McTominay] is great at coming in at that stage.
"We've got to remember how far we've come as a team and a club. It's my job to make sure we stick together. We've come a long way. We're in still in a great position to achieve something special. If we play like that today we'll win more games than we lose.
"I could feel us winning it [in the second half]. We had chances on the break, they were breaking but not creating chances. They had moments of quality, we were getting into great positions. We stuck to the game plan. Our supporters were getting a bit frustrated, but I think they wanted us to be up and at them. I think on another day we win this this game.
"We're at a big club, the fans are expecting. We are expecting that. It's my job to keep the team together. We don't want to blame everyone. These things happen in a season. We've had huge injuries throughout the season, it's gone under the radar and the manager doesn't make excuses. We can still achieve something special this season and today was a massive step towards that."