Niall Quinn is urging Sunderland to harness the disappointment of the goalless draw with Bradford to fuel a fresh assault on the Premiership big boys.
While Europe remains a dirty word at the Stadium of Light, Quinn is hoping Sunday's stalemate will help to re-focus the minds of players who have become used to getting their own way.
Quinn was guilty of a glaring first-half miss but Bradford were equally wasteful in a game that could have gone either way.
"It's a good measure that we're gutted but second in the league," said Quinn.
"But at the same time, it could have been better. In some ways, it might help us to knuckle down and realise that it's not all easy. It's a very tough league we're in.
"You've got to try to turn things like this the right way, and one of the things we'll say is it's knocked us in our tracks a little bit.
"But that might be a good thing because we went down to places like West Ham and Crystal Palace during the week. It wasn't party-time but it was certainly all bubbly.
"Maybe being knocked back down to earth might help us now realise that we're going to have to roll our sleeves up and fight for everything.
"But we still picked up a point. That's probably a measure of the expectations and how quickly they jump.
"We're absolutely deflated at only taking a point. I think that's because the results going the way they did on Saturday meant that we could put a bit of daylight between ourselves and some of the other teams - and when it doesn't happen it gets to you a little bit."