Josh Hodgson insists all is not lost for England despite under-performing in a 17-16 defeat to New Zealand in their opening Four Nations fixture on Saturday.
England must now beat both outsiders Scotland and world champions Australia if they are to reach the November 20 final at Anfield after losing to the Kiwis in Huddersfield.
"It's a tough one to take. We are a bit disappointed with ourselves," said Canberra hooker Hodgson.
"You can take a defeat if you've played your best and done everything right. When you're not at your best and you get beat, it's pretty disappointing.
"We know we can perform better than that. We weren't terrible or anything like that but there's certainly a few areas there to improve on.
"I thought we had a pretty good start and built some pressure on their line but in the 10 or 15 minutes before half-time, we made an error and backed it up with a penalty and spent quite a lot of time defending our own line which really saps your energy.
"I thought the effort from the boys was wonderful and the commitment was there. Everybody did themselves proud, I just think as a squad we need to be a bit smarter in a couple of areas.
"The difference was only a point, they got the chance to knock a field goal over, we just missed ours but there's no point wondering about ifs and buts. We need to move on now and build for next week."
England must now beat Australia at the London Stadium on November 13 to keep alive their hopes of a first Four Nations title, but first up are Steve McCormack's Bravehearts, who went down 54-12 to the Kangaroos in their opening game in Hull on Friday night.
"We know what we've got to do," Hodgson said. "We'll just worry about this week first.
"We know it's going to be a tough week. We'll go back and review video and look at a few areas where we can improve."
Hodgson says England will not under-estimate the challenge of Four Nations new boys Scotland, who have in their side a smattering of players from the NRL and his former Hull KR team-mate Adam Walker.
"They've got a great squad and they'll certainly be looking to do their country proud and looking to cause an upset," Hodgson said.