Wolves had made a solid start to life in the Women’s Super League 2, winning two and drawing one of their opening five games, as they went into Sunday’s match.
It started perfectly at Ashton Gate as an Amber Hughes finish put Wolves ahead after seven minutes, but by the hour mark Wolves were 4-1 down, with a second from Hughes nothing but a consolation.
McNamara hopes his side can learn from their mistakes at the weekend as they navigate life in the second tier.
He said: “You don’t want to come away and concede four goals, but I think it’s probably a reality check of where we’re at.
“After a really positive start, we probably got a little bit ahead of ourselves, but they are top side.
“They’re outstanding. I think there were moments in the game we couldn’t get near them.
“As I said before the game, the table probably lies in a sense with Bristol City. They’ve had a poor start to the season by their standards, and they’re just starting to find their feet now.
“It’s those moments, those learning moments that are costing us again. All we can do is keep supporting the girls and keep working with them. It’s still early in the transition into WSL2
“So we’ve got to just keep fighting, stick together and keep trying to develop them.”
Hughes’ double took her tally to five goals in just six WSL2 games this season, and the striker is eager to stay positive despite the defeat.
She said: “We lost 4-2, but we fought back second half and ended up getting back in the game a little bit, and I think we’ve just got to take the positives.
“There were some positives in the game. A lot of things that we can work on. We’ll have a look at in training when we go back.
“They were a strong opposition, and they were well drilled. I think we came with a game plan that we tried to execute.
“At times we didn’t get it right. I think it’s just a case of kind of believing in ourselves at times to keep with it and do what we can to keep in the game and try and create chances and try and attack as much as we can.”