Pollock wants the Proteas to enjoy themselves in the second Test

The Proteas were thumped in the opener without Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Pollock, who had just flown in after the birth of his second daughter.

"We can wallow in self-pity or swallow the bitter pill and get on with it.

"One should not think too much about what happened. You draw a line through it and look ahead," Pollock insisted.

"From all the reports we've heard, the wicket for the second Test is going to be even lower and slower than the first.

"But there's no point dwelling on the negatives. We just have to get on with it and prepare ourselves for a hard, patient fight going right down to the final session on day five."

Sri Lanka amassed 756-5 at the Sinhalese Sports Club thanks to Mahela Jayawardene (374) and Kumar Sangakkara (287), who put on a world record 624 for the third wicket.

Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan then completed a match haul of 11 wickets to clinch victory by an innings and 153 runs.

But Pollock believes his side have reasons to be positive going into the second game, also in Colombo, at the Sara Oval.

"We had them two down for 14 and it could have been three for 30. Then, we could have put some pressure on their inexperienced middle order," he added.