Following a bright start, Newport County have been brought back down with a bump having lost successive League Two matches.
The Exiles were beaten by Grimsby and Salford in the space of four days having suffered a 1-0 defeat to Millwall in the Carabao Cup last week.
It has proven to be something of a reality check for those at Rodney Parade following what was an encouraging start to life under new boss David Hughes.
That said, there is no doubt Newport are still a work in progress - particularly given that the club finished just one place above the relegation zone under Nelson Jardim last time out.
So what is the plan, and why Hughes?
Speaking in January during his time as Under-21s boss at Manchester United, Hughes spoke about his desire to have "possession-based elements" to his training sessions in addition to having a focus on "quickening up attacks".
Given his work with the younger generation at Old Trafford and during his spells with young guns at clubs including Aston Villa, Southampton and Cardiff City, Hughes is no stranger to developing youth talent.
It further highlights why chairman Huw Jenkins was keen to bring the former Wales Under-21 international to Rodney Parade - with his side's average age of 24.8 being the youngest in the division so far this season.
And United were more than pleased to see Hughes go on to fulfil his dream of becoming a first team coach given his work in the club's academy.
READ MORE: David Hughes Ready to Dig Deeper Foundations for Newport County Rebuild
Speaking in May, the Red Devils' director of academy Nick Cox said: “Dave has played an important part in the recent success of the academy, working closely with Travis Binnion on the development of several young players on their journeys towards the senior squads both at Manchester United, and elsewhere in the Football League or in Europe."
Averaging just 40.2% possession this season - the second lowest tally in the league - Newport are hardly dominating matches under Hughes.
Their xG against of 6.96 is the third-highest in the fourth tier while their total of 64 shots against is the joint-second highest.
Possession and pressure at both ends of the pitch do of course correlate in particular outcomes, and Hughes will hope his side can ease the burden on summer signing Nik Tzanev - who is yet to keep a clean sheet in his first five appearances since joining on a free transfer after leaving Northampton Town.
Youth can also bring naivety and a degree of lack of game management - as, to some extent, evidenced in the loss at Grimsby where Newport ended the game as the side looking the more likely to snatch a late winner with the score locked at 1-1, only to concede in the 94th minute to taste defeat for the first time under the current boss.
READ MORE: Liam Shephard Insists There’s a Lot More to Come After Newport’s First Away Win For Six Months
But they were at least on the right track, and Hughes also felt Tuesday's loss to Salford conjured up plenty of encouragement.
"It sounds daft but the performance, on the whole, was really positive," he said.
"I thought the progress was really positive. We want to win, of course, but there's a number of characteristics in the performance that were really positive.
"We challenge the players continuously to get better with the ball and I think that was certainly evident this evening."
Hughes, along with chairman Jenkins, knows only too well that they are at the very beginning of the Newport project, with the manager still determined to further bolster his squad before the 7pm transfer deadline on Monday, September 1.
And while the ultimate aim will be to challenge for a top seven place with a view to targeting a spot in League One, the short-term focus will undoubtedly be to have a more settled campaign that does not feature regular nervous checks over the shoulder towards the bottom two.
