Jo Laumann admits Barnsley's 4-1 thrashing at Championship leaders Fulham was 'hard to take' but they are looking forward to a 'fresh start' from Monday under incoming head coach Poya Asbaghi.
The new boss was in the stands at Craven Cottage as caretaker Laumann's side were well-beaten and stayed second-bottom, four points from safety.
Laumann said: "It's hard to take when you lose, especially 4-1.
"To be fair, we played against one of the top two sides in the league - a very good footballing team. It is frightening for any team to play them.
"We had quite a good start and looked stable but we didn't hurt them when we had transitions. We won the ball four or five times and could easily have created a chance but missed the pass.
"We were unlucky that we didn't score from Romal (Palmer)'s shot (a long-range effort tipped over in the tenth minute) which would give us confidence then their first cross into the box is a goal and after that it was hard to maintain against such a good team.
"Fulham were good but they can only be as good as we let them. I don't think there was a team like Fulham in the division last season."
Laumann changed to 4-2-3-1 having used 3-4-3 all season. New head coach Asbaghi has often played with a back four.
Laumann said: "I don't know what he prefers or what he's going to do. I made the decision to go with the back four.
"We have always had problems with the opposition doubling up on the wing, your back five gets pinned back and you lose pressure. I wanted to have four defenders controlling three attackers and another body in the centre."
Striker Carlton Morris, who returned from a three-month injury lay-off, added: "These things happen, Fulham are a good side and they will cause you problems. We gave as good as we got for some of the first half but, when you're not getting the rub of the green, it has hard to finish. Fulham were very clinical at times and they are a tough team to match up against.
"The boys gave as good a reaction as we could to the first goal then they (Fulham) got fortunate with a deflection for the second goal. That sort of luck goes against you sometimes in this position.
"We are ready for a fresh start with the new manager coming in on Monday and hopefully we can turn things on their head."
Laumann confirmed that he left Devante Cole out of the squad through choice but Claudio Gomes picked up a hamstring injury in training yesterday. Laumann said: "I hope and think it is not a bad one."
