Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk admits his club's form is simply not good enough as the Saints enter the international break without a win in their first three Premier League games.
The Dutch defender called on his teammates to improve their performance levels after they failed to record a win against Sunderland on Saturday, Jay Rodriguez's late strike ensuring they at least avoided defeat.
Van Dijk revealed that adapting to Claude Puel's style of management requires more time but refused to use that as an excuse for the club's slow start to the new campaign.
FULL-TIME Southampton 1-1 Sunderland. Jay Rodriguez thwarts the visitors with a late leveller #SOUSUN pic.twitter.com/sBfYELQY9Q
"We had an amazing season last year and we need to try to reach that level again," said Van Dijk.
"Obviously it's going to be hard with all the changes but we need to adapt soon.It's not easy. Everything's a bit new so we need to adapt as well but that's no excuse.
"The manager wants us to play a different style of football and it takes a bit of time and we need to adapt on everything.
"It's not good enough. As a team we can't be happy with a draw against Sunderland at home, with all due respect.
"We can't be happy with the performance and the result and we need to do much better.
"I'm disappointed and that's the worst feeling to go into the international break. It wasn't good enough."
Puel echoed van Dijk's sentiments in admitting his frustration at the result:"It's disappointment this afternoon. We had many possibilities to score," Puel told Sky Sports.
"We [were losing] 1-0 but it was important for the players. They showed good character and spirit to equalise. This is very important for the future.
"It's important to continue to work and be rewarded for all the good things we see on the pitch.
"We have a good team with good players and good character. I think we lost two points this afternoon."
Claude Puel has said he expects more players to arrive at Southampton in the next few days.https://t.co/abpjfkCgBl pic.twitter.com/km9h3V4cGB