THERE have been a few bruised egos around the club this week after our cup defeat at Saracens but I think the team can turn that hurt into something positive against Otley on Sunday.

The result was a poor refection on our effort in the Tetley Bitter Cup fifth round match.

If you look at the game, for the first 30 minutes of the first half we were just 7-3 down.

And after that they scored from three turnovers in a poor last 10 minutes of the first period. If that had not have happened the score would have been a more realistic 21-13. People see 42-13 but there wasn't that much of a gap. I thought we did well in the second half and I was delighted with Alistair Murdoch's try. We never gave up and the effort was certainly there. There were certain aspects of our game where we looked threatening. I think on Sunday if we had been playing a middle-of-the table Premiership side we would have caused them big problems. Richard Jarman was sin-binned in the last five minutes of the first half and he has been big enough to hold his hands up and apologise to the team. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he made a mistake by getting the yellow card from the referee. It was a silly moment - I've had them at that sort of level, we've all had them. However, I'm confident he will come back from that because he's made of strong stuff.

There were a number of positives to come out of the match, not least the form of South Africa Rudi Keil who never let his head drop all afternoon. Rudi never stopped trying. He was up there with the highest tackle count and you just couldn't ask anymore of him. His hands are good and everything about him is very secure. He has already learned a lot from the game and so have I about him.

Murdoch showed once again why he will be a force this season. He is used to playing at the top level and it shone through on Sunday. He is a very proud man and was desperately disappointed to lose.

Nevertheless, despite all the positives - we suffered our first defeat of the season and there has been a fair bit of soul searching this week. The guys are determined, however, to do what Saracens did to us to the rest of Division One this season now. We face Otley this weekend and are hoping to get the all clear for Earl Va'a who could return after his hand injury. We will know later today whether he will be fit.

Another player coming in who took his chance at Vicarage Road is Alistair McLean who had some good moments after coming on as substitute. It is up to players to grab their opportunities when they arise and he certainly did that.

I was absolutely overwhelmed by the support we received down in Watford. I really have to take my hat off to the fans because their vocal support was magnificent. I was amazed that they actually out-shouted the Saracens fans. What I hope is that all of you come down to Sixways on Sunday to get behind us again. Let's get it into perspective, we lost a cup game to the best side in England. The trick is now to get back to the basics and dominate Otley at the weekend. We just want to turn things around and the quicker the better.