Bacary Sagna insists Manchester City will not be too concerned after suffering their first defeat of the season with the 2-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
City remain a point clear at the top of the Premier League after the defeat to Spurs, which brought an end to their perfect start in the division where they had won their opening six matches.
"Before starting [the season], whether it be in terms of players or coaches, we knew everyone had strengthened. We know that it is going to be a very high-quality league," Sagna told SFR Sport.
"We'll try to do everything we can to put some distance between ourselves and everyone else as soon as possible, which won't be straightforward. Honestly, I'm not worried [by the defeat]. I'm not worried. We're in a dominant frame of mind. We want to learn, and that's what we'll try to do."
Sagna admitted that City had been second best at White Hart Lane, where an own goal from Aleksandar Kolarov and a neat finish from Dele Alli gave Spurs the three points.
City also struggled to open up Mauricio Pochettino's side as their midfield were hassled out of their passing game by a hard-working Tottenham team.
"We took our time to get into the match. We were up against a good team, it has to be said," Sagna added. "You have to acknowledge that they were much better than us. They were there for the second balls, and they won almost every tackle in the first half. After, we tried to come back into it.
"It's not easy, they know how to stop us playing, they know how to put us under pressure. We have to accept the defeat. Of course, we're not happy, we had a challenge. Now, we're all going off to our respective [national] teams, and we hope to come back stronger."
Fellow City defender Pablo Zabaleta said the defeat to Spurs was a reality check for those who were getting carried away after City had won their first 10 games of the season.
That run ended with the 3-3 Champions League draw to Celtic in midweek before their first defeat under Pep Guardiola at Tottenham.
"It's a wake-up call for who we are and where we are," Zabaleta told Manchester Evening News. "When you play well and win all the games, people talk too much, and maybe now we can see, and they can see, that we are not invincible.
"We are human and cannot play well every game. There are always teams that can play better than you, and that happened.
"We had won six games in a row and knew that one day we would not perform, especially at the top level of the Premier League against a really good team like Spurs. We got what we deserved. They were the better team and we have to recognise that."