Roberto Martinez believes his Everton side must regain their "swagger" if they are to reverse a worrying losing streak.
The Toffees went down 2-0 at Hull on New Year's Day to make it four losses in 12 days over the festive period and add to a growing sense of listlessness at the club.
After finishing fifth in Martinez's first season, their current placing of 13th makes uncomfortable reading and the under-pressure Spaniard acknowledges something is missing.
"It is a tough period but the reality is that the second half of the season is an opportunity to get back our swagger and our enjoyment and get a positive result really quickly," he said after goals from Ahmed Elmohamady and former Toffee Nikica Jelavic handed Hull the points.
"Now is the time to find solutions internally and I need to bring the enjoyment back to my players on the pitch. That's the only concern that I have and I will do that with all my energy.
"We need to get back to finding that training is a real opportunity to show you can play for the team and show a real togetherness as a football club.
"Unfortunately when you are in this moment of difficulty, any change could affect us and punish us. That's the reality."
Martinez, whose stock was higher than ever last term, is now facing questions about his future at Goodison Park but with things not yet at crisis point he is firmly focused on the task at hand.
"If I had time to think about all those aspects, I wouldn't do my job," he said. "I welcome that pressure, I know the team that I have has quality. We are far away from the levels of quality we have in our play.
"It's for us to start a new year, a fresh year and quickly turn things around. It's the time to start finding solutions."