Brian McDermott insists England will not chase points in their remaining group games despite defeat to Tonga leaving their World Cup hopes hanging by a thread.
England's ever-present semi-final record is under serious threat after they went down 30-12 in Perth.
McDermott's side are now realistically banking on a favour from Tonga, who must beat Samoa on the final day of the group stage to give England any chance of qualifying for the last four.
Before then, England must defeat France and Papua New Guinea convincingly enough to ensure they outscore the Samoans.
However, McDermott insists he will not alter his game plan after a damaging result in Saturday's opener.
"We're certainly not going to trip ourselves up," said McDermott.
"It's going to be tremendously disrespectful to either France or PNG to suggest we're going to rack a load of points up sat here right now. We'll come up with a plan for France and PNG.
"You can't play with freedom, not at international level. You've got to keep hold of the ball, as we saw today.
"We're not going to trip ourselves up trying to come up with a plan to score 50 points this week."
England found themselves 10-0 down at half-time despite producing an encouraging attacking performance that offered a glimpse of the enterprising style promised by McDermott.
By the end of a disappointing evening, they were left to rue lapses of discipline and missed opportunities in the face of determined defence.
"I thought Tonga were terrific defensively," acknowledged McDermott.
"In terms of reaching their line and cracking their line open, I thought we did it two or three times in that first half but they came up with some try-saving tackles so a lot of credit goes to Tonga. We just need to be more patient.
"We know what's in front of us now. We've got to win the next two games and improve on the things we need to improve upon. But I've seen enough which is telling me we're heading in the right direction.
"When you can identify when you've lost – and it's not to do with being physically outdone or strategically outdone – it gives me a tremendous amount of confidence."