Tony Smith made no excuses after Warrington lost their opening Super 8s game to St Helens.
The Wolves missed the chance to go top of Super League as they went down 20-18 to the in-form Saints, with Mark Percival’s penalty goal the only difference between the sides on the scoreline.
But despite the close nature of the result, Smith insisted that the best team won.
“We were off it,” Smith said.
“The sharpness wasn’t there. My boys tried right to the end but, if we were going to pull it out, it was going to be through individual brilliance.
“Some of the passing was off and there were signs of being a bit sloppy both in defence and attack.
“I thought St Helens were very good at getting numbers in the tackles and controlling the speed of the ruck and their kicking game better than ours. They deserved their win.”