Manchester United slumped to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea on Sunday but Red Devils midfielder Juan Mata has warned of dwelling into that loss and wants the club to move on as the season is far from over yet.

“It’s not easy to write after a defeat. Obviously, there’s a risk that you get carried away by pessimism. But my experience tells me that you must allow some time to analyse things with more perspective,” Mata wrote on his personal blog.

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Mata’s compatriot Alvaro Morata headed home in the 55th minute as the Blues consigned United to their second league defeat of the season.

“It hurts to lose, that’s for sure. Both you and us,” Mata admitted as he added, “ But now there’s an international break coming and it’s a good time to recap and to see the things that we’re doing well and the things that we can improve”.

Mata, who spent two-and-a-half seasons with the Blues and is still adored by vast majority of their fans, was left out of the match day squad by United manager Jose Mourinho (coincidentally another former Chelsea employee) for the trip to West London.

“Indeed, the return to Stamford Bridge didn’t work out as we expected. It was a tough and intense game where Chelsea were able to take their chances to get the three points. In sports you have to accept the defeats, but with the only goal of learning from them and trying to improve in the next game. That’s what we’re going to do. There’s still a lot to play for, so let’s carry on,” Mata asserted.

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Under Mourinho, the 29-year-old Spaniard has struggled to break into the starting XI at United, but has still managed to score 10 goals from midfield for each of his last three seasons.

And Mata was quick to point out that United are among the few teams in the UEFA Champions League to have a 100 per cent record (four wins from four) this season: “In this sense, I think that we shouldn’t forget our victory against Benfica at Old Trafford on Tuesday that took us really close to the next stage of the Champions League. Four wins out of four games are an extraordinary record; we must give value to that, and yet remain vigilant. We still need at least one more point, and our goal, of course, is to finish on top of the group”.

Second-placed United trail table-toppers Manchester City by eight points and will look to bounce back from their loss at Chelsea when they host newly-promoted Newcastle United in a Premier League fixture after the ensuing international break concludes on November 18.