Warren Gatland claims Blues defeat could help British and Irish Lions ahead of All Blacks series

British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland insists valuable lessons will have been learned from their loss to the Blues.

After struggling to see off the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians last Saturday, the Lions were much improved at Eden Park on Wednesday but a dazzling late Ihaia West try saw them slip to a 22-16 defeat.

They now face a gruelling run of four games in 11 days before the first Test against the All Blacks on June 24, but Gatland is confident his side will improve and be 'fresh' for their clashes with the world champions.

"The All Blacks will only just be coming together as well, so perhaps they will be a bit cold," said Gatland.

"It was a moment of magic that won the game tonight, but we've got to be better at stopping that offloading game.

"I thought generally we did that well but it's one moment. We've learned a lot from tonight and about the opposition.

"There's so much strength in depth in this country that these Super Rugby sides are really not very far away from the All Blacks.

"And they have been playing together and gelling for seven months, so these are big tests that will help us move forward quickly."

Gatland also moved to downplay fears around Jared Payne's continued calf strain struggles.

Payne carried his calf issue into the Lions tour, and was a late withdrawal from the tour-opening 13-7 win over the Provincial Barbarians.

The Ireland centre shook off that issue well enough to start against the Blues, but limped out of the contest in obvious pain - although Gatland insisted Payne is not an undue injury concern.

Dan Biggar failed a head injury assessment (HIA) after taking a heavy hit, but Gatland also insisted the Wales fly-half's problem is not a big worry either.

"Jared Payne had a tight calf but we knew about that," said Gatland. "Jared's had that calf (problem) for a while, so the pleasing thing is he's got through 50 to 60 minutes.

"We knew at half-time it was a bit tight, but hopefully the calf will strengthen up hopefully.

"Dan Biggar failed an HIA but the medics aren't too concerned about that. And Rhys Webb just has cramp. So at this point we're reasonably happy with where we are on injuries."