"We were very down after the game last week and very disappointed because we know we let ourselves down," Dearden told the Nottingham Evening Post over the weekend.
"You have to be very careful about what you say after a bad defeat.
"Sometimes you say things in the heat of the moment and things were said after the Lincoln match, but they were constructive.
"All of the players held their hands up and said they had not played to their potential for one reason or another.
"But we have been more upbeat in training this week and working on things to put them right."