Andrew Strauss admitted England were caught off guard by Pakistan after they were thrashed by 10 wickets in the First Test here today.
Strauss and his players will hold talks to discuss what went wrong after their batsmen collapsed in both innings, with Saeed Ajmal claiming 10 wickets to earn the man-of-the-match award.
The tourists must regroup for the Second Test, which starts in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, and the final one back here on February 3.
"We were caught off guard in the first session of the game on a very flat wicket," said Strauss.
"Pakistan got in front and never let us back in. We have to learn lessons but we mustn't get carried away with the result.
"We didn't apply ourselves as we should have done. We can come up with so many questions and recriminations but the most important thing for the batsmen is to be clear about our methods and we can use this disappointment as good motivation.
"We lost heavily in Perth during the Ashes and went on to win the next two Tests, so that is a good template for us to use as we look ahead towards the rest of the series."
Ajmal was outstanding and although former England captain Bob Willis questioned whether he should be allowed to bowl the doosra Strauss said his side had no problem with his bowling action.
The captain was keen instead to focus on what England had done wrong after the No1 Test team mustered only 352 runs in this contest, which lasted just three days.
Strauss added: "We've got to be honest and ask ourselves whether our game plan was smart enough but, as a side, we've done a lot of good things over the last two years."
For Pakistan, though, it was almost a perfect match, especially from a bowling point of view.
Captain Misbah-ul-Haq said: "We did not expect it to be so easy for us. I think you can say [after the 2010 spot-fixing scandal] that everybody gathered themselves and wanted to prove to the world they are good cricketers and that Pakistan are a good side. That has really motivated the team."
