Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate is remaining positive despite his side's failure to beat Wigan at The Riverside.
Boro remain rooted in the bottom two after failing to score again in a draw with the Latics which saw both teams create few chances.
The result means Boro have only scored once in nine Premier League games and have not won in 14 top flight matches.
Southgate told Sky Sports: "Well it is frustrating as everybody will have looked at it as a possible win.
"I think at the moment we are struggling to unlock other teams. Wigan came and did a good defensive job so you've got to give them credit for that.
"Our intention was to come and try and play bright football and attack them, I thought we did that, certainly in the first half of the game.
"Towards the end I thought - the 70 minute mark - we just started to stop taking risks or stopped being bold enough and brave enough to go and win the game and that's understandable in the position we are in I think, but we have got to be brave enough to go and try and win matches. That would be the only thing that I think we needed to improve upon."
Speaking about his side's failure to score, he said: "When you look at the array of attacking talent that we have got you do scratch your head because they have got the ability to go and get goals.
"We didn't create enough chances today, but again we had the players on the field that we feel can do that.
"As I said, you have to give Wigan credit because they've gone very solid today and limited us, I think they saw us play last week and they've done a professional away job.
"But from our point of view we need a bit more of a spark going forward but at least we are difficult to beat at the moment and although it is not our intention to go out and get a nil-nil, I never felt that we would lose the game so that is something to build on.
"If you're not conceding at least the scoreboard ticks over with points."
Southgate believes his side had been hit by the injury early on to Didier Digard, although he had 'no qualms' about former player Lee Cattermole's challenge, believing he had got the ball.
He added he could not fault his side's effort both through the week in training and on match days.
"They are giving what they are giving," he said.
"What they are giving is absolutely everything and that gives you pride as a manager - you can't ask them for more than that."
Southgate said he will meet the challenge to stave off relegation full on.
"It's one of those situations that you don't walk away from. I said to my players everybody outside of our club thinks we are gone - they've all written us off - so that should steel us even more to be tighter as a unit, to make sure we graft.
"We are going to learn a lot about ourselves, we are going to learn a lot about other people and it won't be for a want of effort that this thing turns round."
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