Atalanta suffered a second straight defeat, going down 2-1 at home to Cagliari after Paul Mendy's early strike and a Daniel Maldini penalty either side of a Gianluca Scamacca equaliser, leaving Maurizio Sarri's side on six points from four games.
Speaking after the match at the New Balance Arena, Sarri rejected suggestions his team had faded badly after a bright start.
"It wasn't easy to maintain the same intensity. Rowe has only played a couple of matches, Kessie has only just come back from the World Cup," Sarri said. "Compared to the first half we dropped off, but I think the lads were very aggressive.
"That was the request: a team that wanted to do things but couldn't quite manage it and lost itself in the final quality. We paid for a lot of imprecision, but today the desire to dominate the opponent is a good foundation to build on. I'm sorry for the crowd and for the players. I'm less worried than after previous matches."
Asked about his side's struggles in the final third despite dominating territory, Sarri pointed to a lack of composure in decisive moments.
"We were missing something compared to the number of balls we played into the opposition area: we had 85-15 territorial dominance. We need to score more given what we create. In the closing stages it wasn't easy because there was a wall right on the edge of the box, but I agree we need to be more clinical," he said.
Sarri explained his half-time and second-half substitutions, including bringing on Kolasinac ahead of Bernasconi, as tactical rather than a loss of faith in any individual.
"The Samardzic change came because we played with four forwards in the last 15 minutes. The midfield pairing seemed good to me. Kolasinac is a lad with personality who is making himself heard. Right now I want to involve him, but I haven't forgotten about Bernasconi," he said.
On the overall trajectory of his rebuilding project at Atalanta, Sarri struck a note of cautious optimism.
"It's difficult to say. Not every group responds the same way. I don't know the timeframe, but tonight I had the impression that there are still many things to smooth out, whereas in previous matches the situation felt like even more of an uphill struggle," Sarri said. "I was worried after Bologna, partly after Roma, but certainly not tonight. I'm very disappointed with the result this evening, but I saw a bit of light at the end of the tunnel."
The Atalanta coach also praised the impact of Raoul Bellanova, who continues to impress from full-back.
"If the Bellanova I saw tonight still has plenty of room to improve, that means he's extraordinary. His speed and his timing in making runs are impressive. Defensively he's improving day by day, and my impression is that Bellanova is a player on the launchpad," Sarri said.