Head coach Fabian Hurzeler says Brighton & Hove Albion should be higher up the Premier League table at Christmas than 10th place.
Brighton have 25 points from 17 games under the 31-year-old German, which is comparable with the previous two seasons at the corresponding stage under former head coach Roberto De Zerbi.
They had two points more with the Italian in charge in 2022-23 on their way to finishing sixth, when they qualified for Europe for the first time in the club's history and they had a point more last season, when they faded to finish 11th.
Hurzeler's speaking at his press conference for Friday's home game against Brentford, told The Athletic: "I am very critical of myself and my work.
"I have to say there are some moments where we weren't clinical or detailed enough, weren't good enough with the decision making, because in the end when you see the performances we should easily have more points. It's my responsibility, so that's why I am very critical with myself about that."
The aim for Brighton this season is to reach Europe again. They are three points behind fifth-placed Bournemouth after Saturday's 1-1 draw at West Ham United stretched their winless run to five matches.
Hurzeler said: On the other side (of things), we are three points away from where we want to be and that's a good situation. We could be many more points away from the goal for us. That shows to us that we have to keep working and to trust that this period of time, where you have a lot of bad experiences, is part of the journey, part of the process.
"I think every team experiences it. We have to go through it, stick together, and show that you learn more in this period than you learn by winning every week or having only positive experiences. When we let this period teach us the right lessons and take the right things out of it, then we can grow as a team, we can reach our goals this season."
Mats Wieffer is being monitored for Brentford's visit. The Dutch midfielder went off with a leg injury shortly after scoring his first goal for the club in Saturday's 1-1 draw at West Ham. Hurzeler said: "It's not perfect how he came out of the game, but we hope it's not a big issue."
Long-term injury victims Adam Webster and Solly March could be back in contention. Webster has missed 11 matches with a hamstring injury, while March has been out for 14 months with knee damage. Hurzeler said: "Hopefully we will see one of them back in the squad."