Adelaide United goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic says the players are ready to bounce back after suffering their first defeat of the Asian Champions League this season.

The Reds went down to Japanese club Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1-0 on Tuesday night in what seemed to be a fairly lacklustre performance by the previously undefeated side.

Adelaide remain on top of the Group H table despite the loss but Galekovic knows the team needs to start much better and he believes the players have learnt from the loss.

"We've got to start better. The first 45 minutes wasn't up to scratch and against Pohang (next match), we've got to take it up to them in the first half," Galekovic said.

"We don't have to attack from the first minute but we have to be up for the game, and if we do that we'll be in with a really good chance.

"There were a few saves and in the second half I didn't have much to do which was good, but when you cop a goal it's hard to get back into the game, so hopefully we'll learn from it.

"They (Hiroshima) are a very good team and we started off slow, and if you are going to start of slow and concede in the first half it's going to be very hard to win the game."

Galekovic admitted that the side was never going to go through undefeated but just he hopes they can bounce back, get a result against Pohang Steelers, and finish top of the table heading into the Round of 16.

"Obviously we were going to lose eventually and it happened in Japan," Galekovic added.

"They're a good team and the J-League is a good competition so it was always going to be hard, but we're still on top of the ladder and we go to Pohang in a couple of weeks and hopefully we get a result there and stay top."