Rob Baxter expects there to be a 'psychological backlash' when Exeter Chiefs host London Irish on Saturday.
The Sandy Park side went down 29-24 away to Newcastle last time out, ending a dismal run of 20 straight Premiership defeats for the Falcons.
The result came as even more of a surprise given the strong start Baxter's men have made to the Premiership season, having won away at Gloucester and at home to Harlequins in their two previous games.
Baxter was satisfied with many aspects of their display at Kingston Park on Sunday but felt they eased off mentally, allowing the hosts to overturn a 24-17 deficit with 15 minutes remaining before rallying to hold off an Exeter surge late in the encounter.
Suffice to say that he does not expect that to be the case when the Exiles come to Devon this weekend.
"It goes without saying that, being at home and after a loss, we are obviously going to expect a kind of psychological backlash from it," said the head coach.
"Having said that, you can't just expect it and you can't take it for granted.
"Players doing their specific jobs flat-out is what makes a team strong. That is where we wavered last week and it is where we have to be strong this time round.
"I have individually coded every first team game for 12 years, so I know every carry, every tackle and every pass that these players have made in their careers at Exeter and I know when we are a little bit off.
"Why that happens is all about the mentality and, as simple as that sounds, that really is the hardest part of sport.
"The players need to be prepared physically and tactically, but on top of that, the tough part is getting individual people focused on it.
"You don't have to drift off very far and all of a sudden you can give away a penalty or a try, so we will talk about how we have to work extremely hard and every player is going to have to play their part."
One piece of good news to have come out of Sunday's loss is that Baxter's side emerged relatively unscathed from the encounter.
Other than a few bumps and bruises, nobody picked up any injuries which should threaten their participation against Brian Smith's side.
The likes of Jack Nowell and Mitch Lees are expected to return after missing out on the Newcastle game.
Players such as Chrysander Botha and Fetu'u Vainikolo started in Exeter Braves' A League win over London Irish on Monday, with Sireli Naqelevuki, Brett Sturgess and Greg Bateman coming off the bench.
Baxter stressed that the door was open for them to force their way into the starting XV with a strong showing, and they responded with a 33-10 victory.
"We have got to push on performance-wise and make sure we get back up to the maximum level," urged Baxter. "Such a huge part of top level sport is mental. The attitude you take on the pitch to make sure everything you do is flat-out and using every ounce of energy and power is crucial – particularly in contact sports.
"The differences are relatively small, but when you add it up in the overall performance, there is the significant difference of beating Harlequins one week and losing to Newcastle the next.
"That's what happened at Newcastle – we played okay but without ever really making sure it went our way. This time, we need to be confident enough to take whatever is coming at us for the whole 80 minutes."
