Dan McFarland says he shares responsibility for Ulster's latest Champions Cup defeat and admitted ill-discipline was a cause for a concern.
The province rallied from a dire first half before losing 36-29 to La Rochelle at Aviva Stadium.
Much of the pre-match build-up had centred around Ulster having to move their 'home' tie to Dublin after Ravenhill was ruled out due to the recent freezing weather.
Read more: Ulster rugby fans vent over late call to move game to Dublin behind closed doors
The game was also played behind closed doors.
McFarland hit out at the decision to move the game, with a change in temperatures on Saturday making Ravenhill playable.
Dealing with the game in Dublin, McFarland says Ulster left themselves with a mountain to climb after trailing 29-0 at half-time.
He told BT Sport: "We have mixed feelings. We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole in the first half; a little bit of ill-discipline.
"As. coach I have to take a little bit of responsibility for that. Tactically we sort of played into their hands a bit. I didn't anticipate we wouldn't be able to get a bit of go forward in the middle of the field in our phase play, and that caused us problems
"Defensively we let them get on the front foot and they earned penalties off us which killed us.
"In the second half we made a couple of changes in terms of the way we played. We played with a little bit more speed and our ball was a bit quicker.
"We played smarter in terms of putting the ball in through behind them and it earned us dividends, and we obviously won the second half 29-7, I think.
"I was really proud of the effort. We have had a really hard couple of weeks but we all know that. But that second half was pretty much what I ave come to expect from the people I work with.
"I am very proud."
Ill-discipline cost Ulster in last week's mauling by Sale in their opening Champions Cup game, and McFarland believes a similar tale unfolded at Aviva against La Rochelle.
He said: "Tactically, it (discipline) can be a problem. You might be getting things wrong, but it can also come from the pressure being put on you.
"Sale and La Rochelle are very physical teams, and when they put you on the back foot you can end up making poor decisions or get caught offside.
"It is a concern, but tactically in the past we have been very good. We are the best team defensively in the URC, so we do understand defence.
"But if you want to be disciplined, you have to be able to hold onto opposition's attack and not let them get on top of you."
McFarland admits reaching the last-16 of Europe will be a challenge this season, but believes the extra bonus point has offered the province a glimmer of hope.
He said: "The extra bonus point could make the difference in the end. The changing room in there is disappointed because we lost at 'home' in the Champions Cup, and we don't do that very often.
"The objective for us is to try and get into the round of 16. It is obviously going to be very tough now but the guts, determination and persistence in that second half has allowed us to get two bonus points."
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