Chester FC boss Steve Burr wants his players to shake off the derby disappointment and says there's lots to play for over the final 10 games - including contracts.
Burr's side have made encouraging progress over the past few months yet produced one of their worst performances of the season at the Racecourse on Saturday.
Keiron Morris' goal on eight minutes gave Wrexham a 1-0 win in front of more than 6,000 spectators, including 1,200 from Chester.
Burr and his team cannot afford to dwell on the defeat with two testing games this week, a trip to Torquay United on Tuesday and then the visit of Grimsby Town on Saturday.
And with so many of his squad out of contract at the end of the campaign, the manager wants them to prove they deserve a new deal.
"There's a lot of games to play yet and a lot of points to play for, and obviously the majority of the boys are going to be playing to earn themselves a squad position for next season," said Burr.
"I think every game changes your opinion as you go and you learn a lot more from defeats. I feel that we've got a good nucleus of a squad that's done well this season to a point but it's just now about sustaining the position in the top half and pushing on from there.
"Overall I've been pleased with the performances of the players. We've got a young squad and it would be nice to build again on those we feel are right to keep with us, if we can obviously, but a lot can happen between now and the end of the season.
"For me you're always playing not just for contracts but to play in the next game."
Although factors such as the pitch, the number of players without previous experience of cross-border derbies and a fortnight's break between games might explain his team's lacklustre display, the manager does not want to use them as an excuse for the loss.
"I can say the break hasn't helped us because we haven't won but if we'd have won I'd say it's been a nice break," said Burr.
"I don't like to make excuses but when you're playing and you're winning you want to continue playing and that little break probably didn't help us.
"I felt there there were one or two who just dipped. We've got a very young side and for a lot of them playing in front of a crowd like that was probably the first time they'd ever done that
"Maybe one or two, I don't like to say froze a little bit, but maybe one or two were not quite how they have been hence the fact that we weren't at our best and we didn't win the game."
