Sinisa Mihajlovic lamented Milan's performance and admitted the Serie A-opening defeat was a fair result, however the Serbian coach is refusing to panic.

Mihajlovic's maiden match in charge ended in a loss, after 10-man Milan were beaten 2-0 at Fiorentina on Sunday.

Defender Rodrigo Ely was red-carded on his league debut for Milan in the 36th minute and Fiorentina made the most of their numerical advantage with goals on either side of the break via Marcos Alonso and Josip Illicic in Florence.

It was not the start Mihajlovic had hoped for but the former Sampdoria boss is adamant there is no reason to be downbeat.

"We certainly deserved to lose and didn't do what we were supposed to. All the incidents went against us, but we should've done a lot better anyway," Mihajlovic told Sky Sport Italia.

"It was an even start with a chance each, then they scored straight after the red card and it became an uphill struggle.

"We reacted better after the break even down to 10 men, but Fiorentina have strong possession anyway, so it's even tougher a man down."

Mihajlovic, who replaced Filippo Inzaghi during the off-season, added: "The performance certainly wasn't up to the task, especially where we were dominated in midfield. With 10 men it was harder, but we still should've done better.

"There was no service for the forwards, so I can't really complain about them. We couldn't keep the ball and gave it away too quickly.

"We prepared during the week and are Milan, so we must always aim to win. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but even if the first 30-35 minutes were balanced enough, we still should've done better.

"We were not phenomenons after winning in the Coppa Italia and are not a waste of space now. There is work to be done, I always hope and aim to win, but after defeats you learn from mistakes and change.

"However, one defeat is no reason to throw everything away that we've done over the last few months. We have a philosophy of football and are working on it."