OUR game with Newcastle at Sixways on Saturday felt similar to the London Irish match — we were all bitterly disappointed with the result but only have ourselves to blame.

We pretty much dominated after the first 20 minutes but that poor start to the match killed us.

We allowed them too much time on the ball, so they were able to go through the phases and that told with the penalties and a try.

It was hugely disappointing to give them that 13-point lead but, from that point on, we dominated territory and possession without taking our chances.

It is so frustrating because, if you look at the Harlequins game which we lost 37-13, we will hold our hands up and admit the better team won, but at the moment we are just killing ourselves.

We have been the better team in games, but are not winning them, which is so disappointing.

However, I spoke to the players after the 16-11 Newcastle defeat and we are confident about where we are heading as a team.

We train really well in the week but that counts for nothing on match-day.

We have good coaches and players and the way we train and prepare is as good as all of the sides I’ve been a part of through my career.

What we are not doing, though, is converting our good work in training onto the pitch on match-day.

It must be very difficult for the coaches as they are giving everything they can.

As we have lost a few games this season — and the squad struggled at the end of the last campaign — confidence in the group could be a little bit low and we don’t have that winning habit at the moment.

We have to stay confident going forward and believe we can get ourselves out of this position and I have faith we will do that.

There is no magic formula to get out of it though, it will just be down to hard work.

It must be so frustrating for the fans but they were outstanding again on Saturday with their support for the team.

We have a change of focus this week with the Aviva Premiership taking a break for the Amlin Challenge Cup and we have to see that as a positive.

It is a different focus for us in a different competition — that can be a good thing and we will use it to our advantage.

We are pretty disappointed with where we are in the league, but going into a different competition takes the pressure off and we will look to use that wisely.

We travel to Oyonnax this weekend.

French teams are always intimidating at home and their mindset is always to create a hostile environment.

But we are a relatively young squad and it will be a good challenge for our players.