A 26-20 loss to the Hurricanes, in a match which ebbed and flowed at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday night, was not the homecoming from South Africa the Highlanders were after.
The loss, coupled with the Sharks thumping the Force in Durban, sent the Highlanders out of the top six for the first time this season.
They are on 35 points, one behind the sixth-placed Sharks but just one clear of the surprising Hurricanes.
The Highlanders also face a tricky draw from here in their bid to return to the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
They host the Bulls, then go on the road to play the Blues and the Crusaders before the three-week break.
But Joseph is not throwing in the towel yet.
"There is still a lot of rugby to play.
"Our focus is we have got a few sore guys and we get to have a decent week where we can recover, as opposed to flying between countries," he said.
"What I do know is we have to beat the Bulls and we have done it before.
"We just need to stop making those silly wee errors.
"If we can do that we can put a performance in that we can be proud of."
Joseph is fully aware of the task which awaits his players this Saturday, when the men from Pretoria arrive to play at the stadium.
"I don't think we've had an easy game in the entire competition.
"I remember the game against the Rebels we may have won by 20 or 30 points but it was heartache for the first 40 minutes.
"It will be the same this week, I would imagine."
The Highlanders made some bad mistakes at just the wrong time on Saturday night, knocking the ball on too often and putting in some poorly directed kicks.
Joseph refused to blame the long flight back from South Africa, saying the errors should not be expected at this top level.
"There were too many errors really, which really cost us . . .
"and they cost us last week. The small knock-on there, picking and going and someone would knock it on - something which you would not consider happening at this level of football."
He said those knock-ons and inaccurate passes broke up the side's rhythm.
"The attitude for the guys is always pretty good. We'd have them under the pump and we'd knock the ball on.
"The first half was frustrating as well we played a lot of field position, and scored a couple of good tries and then we gave away a couple of silly penalties
"... that is really disappointing for us as a team."
With both teams possessing game-breakers, it was always likely one of them would seal the match and so it played out, with big Hurricanes winger Julian Savea scoring the match-winner.
Flanker Tim Boys, who was called into the squad last week, played the bulk of the second half on Saturday night, and he will be joined in the squad by Wellington flanker Scott Fuglistaller and Southland lock Hoani Macdonald.
The Bulls will come to Dunedin with confidence after grabbing a late 27-24 win over the Waratahs in Sydney.
There was a big upset in Melbourne, where the Rebels stunned the Crusaders 28-19.
ll Black No 8 Kieran Read has stayed in Australia to have a pelvic injury assessed.
The Sharks thumped the Force 53-11, while the Stormers stayed within one point of the Bulls at the top of the South African conference with a 16-14 win over the Cheetahs.
In the other upset of the round, the Chiefs lost 42-27 to the Reds in Brisbane last night.
