Anthony Murray insists his North Wales Crusaders side must remain positive as they pursue a return to winning ways.

Sunday's 20-12 defeat at Workington was the club's fifth defeat in seven outings this term, Murray's third since taking charge.

Brad Brennan's 38th minute try gave the visitors a deserved 8-6 lead at half-time against a strong Cumbrian outfit.

But after the interval the Cru conceded four penalties in 10 minutes, which Workington kicked to edge ahead and take the win.

Critical of his side's lacklustre showing against Newcastle a week earlier, Murray was heartened by his side's display against the Cumbrian promotion-hopefuls.

He said: "There's massive positives to take from that game as far as we're concerned.

"I asked for an improved performance and the way we went about ourselves with enthusiasm and intensity and that little bit more commitment in defence was all there.

"I definitely got that this week and we went in with a deserved lead at half-time.

"But we didn't have enough possession in right areas of the field in the second half and when we were giving penalties away, Workington were taking the two points.

"You can take that as a compliment, I suppose, because they were taking the two just because we were defending so well and they couldn't get through us.

"To concede eight points in penalties was a bit tough to take - you take those out of the game and we're there, aren't we? I don't feel we got any of the rub of the green whatsoever in terms of the decisions that went against us."

Aiming for a top-eight finish, Murray insists that his players have already shown glimpses of their ability this term.

The narrow 28-20 away defeat to Doncaster a fortnight ago as well as the Workington reverse has shown the fine margins at work in League One this term.

And after mixing it with the league's best, Murray has now called for consistency in his side's performance levels.

He added: "We have definitely got the capability to match these sides, 100 per cent we have.

"Sides like Workington have made their intent quite clear this season with the personnel they've signed and they're looking to get out of this league this season.

We went there and didn't look like a team that was below them, we looked like a team that was with them for large parts of the game.

"So taking that into consideration, I'm really pleased with how we went about the game - it's just penalties and errors that are killing us.

"We can work on those elements and try to cut them out of our game. So even though we're coming out of the weekend with another loss, we have to stay positive and build on the parts of our game that are strong."