Dan McFarland insists Ulster "have to own" their 39-0 defeat to Sale in Sunday's Heineken Champions Cup opener.
It was the worst possible start for McFarland's men in the showpiece cup competition, especially as reigning champions La Rochelle are next up.
Ronan O’Gara’s side brushed aside Northampton Saints 46-12 in France last weekend and will be looking to pick up another win at Kingspan Stadium this Saturday.
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Defeat at the AJ Bell Stadium rounded off a bad week for Ulster following their disappointing loss to 14-man Leinster in the United Rugby Championship the week before.
Travel disruption ahead of the Pool B opener, which led to McFarland and his squad having little preparation time did not help things for the province either as they suffered a first European whitewash in their history.
The head coach though is expecting a reaction from his players in front of their home support this weekend.
“We've got to own a 39-0 defeat, don't we?” he said.
“It's very difficult when you're a very honest group like these guys are, we measure ourselves by certain standards.
"The challenge for us this week, and what we've talked about, is having a reaction. What happened at the weekend is the kind of situation where that's what we want to look for: a reaction. I know I'll see that at the weekend.
"Whatever the context, whoever you're playing, makes it easier to be on the money against a team as good as them, one of the best two teams in Europe.
"We'll look at what we think we got wrong and have a good look at how we fix that. I'll come back to the point, it was a 39-0 defeat.
"We can play a lot better than that so we have to own that. We were bitterly disappointed with our performance.
"But I'd rather be playing the European champions who put 40-odd points on Northampton in one half of rugby than playing a URC game.
“Any game in the Champions Cup is massive in its own right.
"If (the game) is bigger, it's one per cent bigger in the context in that it's 97 per cent, 98 per cent match. That's the bigness involved in this situation. It's really exciting in and of itself.
"You don't want to make it all about what happened last week, it is what it is. The approach might be slightly different if we went to Sale and won by 40 points, it might have a slightly different angle to it. It is what it is.”
McFarland confirmed James Hume and Jacob Stockdale are doubtful for this weekend's game but Iain Henderson and John Cooney could make a return to action.
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