Nearly three weeks had passed, but the scars of the Tyne-Wear derby defeat were still evident as Eddie Howe spoke.
"You certainly don't go home from that game and move on quickly," the Newcastle United head coach said.
"You know the importance of the game. You have a feeling you've let people down and there's going to be consequences from the result."
This was the first time Howe held a pre-match news conference since that damaging loss against bitter rivals Sunderland, which followed a 7-2 hammering at the hands of Barcelona.
It was also his first sit-down with reporters since chief executive David Hopkinson revealed he did not have a stance on Howe's future, before stressing the club were "not looking to make a change at the moment".
Howe did not appear unduly flustered by those comments and made it clear that nothing had changed from his perspective.
But it was what the head coach did not say which was as intriguing.
"In this day and age, it's difficult to look too far into the long-term," he said. "I can only look at these seven games."
Rather than going too in-depth into the summer, and what the future could bring, Howe's focus was on Sunday's trip to Crystal Palace and the run-in.
Howe and his staff went into "analytical mode" during the international break and savoured the luxury of working with as many as 20 senior players this week for the first time since August
The Newcastle head coach has previously thrived with the benefit of increased training time with his players – ending the club's 70-year wait for silverware by winning the EFL Cup last season and qualifying for the Champions League in 2025 and 2023.
As a relentless schedule eases, Howe needs no reminding of the importance of the run-in as Newcastle look to mount a late push for a European place.
"Pride is at stake," he added. "We want to do our supporters proud in these last seven games. We want to go right until the end of the season."
