Richard Dunne has urged Aston Villa to bury the memory of their weekend setback against Arsenal and react in positive fashion when they entertain Liverpool in Tuesday's Barclays Premier League clash.
And the central defender believes the depth of the Villa squad this season means they can have "no excuses" if they fail to maintain their form of the opening half of the campaign.
Villa are fifth after their 3-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium which ended a seven-game unbeaten run which had yielded 17 points.
Dunne said: "The Arsenal result is one of those things. We've done well. We've not got overly confident. We can't let this result set us back.
"We just have to forget about it and move onto Tuesday night and get a result there.
"There are so many teams who are losing games and then a couple of weeks later are back in it.
"The manager just told us the main thing is how we react to defeats and Tuesday night is the perfect opportunity against another side who are pushing for the top four so we have to put a performance in and get back on track."
Dunne added: "People say we have a history of being poor in the second half of the season but we have a stronger squad this year.
"It's a little bit bigger and the manager can rest people so I don't think we have any excuses for dropping off.
"If we do, then it's just down to the players losing form and we just have to keep on top of ourselves mentally.
"I don't think it should be a factor. There are enough experienced players in the dressing room to keep everyone going and, as soon as anyone drops off, everyone knows there are players in the squad who can replace them.
"Everyone has to be on their toes to make sure they perform every week."
