Lucien Favre insists he is not about to quit as Borussia Dortmund head coach despite a Klassiker defeat to Bayern Munich that appeared to end their Bundesliga title hopes.

Dortmund could have closed to within a point of league leaders and defending champions Bayern with victory at Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday.

But Favre’s side toiled after a strong start and went down 1-0 thanks to Joshua Kimmich’s stunning chip.

Former Hertha Berlin, Borussia Monchengladbach and Nice boss Favre has not won a league title since the 2006-07 Swiss Super League and has been criticised in some quarters for a persistent failure to deliver top prizes.

This perception was put to Favre following the Bayern defeat, and he told Sky Sport: “This has been said here for months. I know how to do it. I’ll talk about it in a few weeks.”

The coach’s comments prompted speculation his Dortmund reign could end “in a few weeks” – a year before his contract expires – but he says he was misunderstood.

“I don’t think about giving up at all,” Favre said on Wednesday, as quoted by Bild.

“We were all disappointed [on Tuesday], but my words in the interview immediately after the game seem to have been misunderstood in many ways.

“The only thing I wanted to answer to relevant questions was that now is not the time to take stock of the season.

“Why? Already on Sunday, in Paderborn, we have to achieve a top performance again. We have to focus on that, nothing else.”