Everton captain Phil Jagielka has admitted that his side need to improve sooner rather than later following their 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.
The Toffees needed a last-minute penalty from Wayne Rooney to rescue a point from their trip to the Amex Stadium, leaving them just two places above the relegation zone and with only one win since the opening day of the season.
Everton were tipped by many to challenge for a top-six spot this term following an active summer in the transfer market, and Jagielka acknowledged that they need to start picking up points on a regular basis quickly if they are to come close to reaching those expectations.
"We know we're in a little bit of a tough period at the moment," the defender told the official club website.
"But there's only one way we can get out if it and that's by playing football, working hard for each other and hopefully those goalmouth scrambles at the end, the goalkeeper jumps out of the way of one. At the end of the day, we have to do better. We're expected to do better and we want to do better.
"We've got eight points and we can build on that. But I don't want to be talking in five or 10 games and us still be struggling and scrapping around for points. We need to start winning sooner rather than later and start climbing that table."
Everton face Lyon in the Europa League on Thursday before taking on Arsenal in their next Premier League outing.
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