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Colchester United boss Danny Cowley says his team have "no hiding place" after back-to-back defeats which have undermined their hopes of a play-off place.
Following Saturday's 1-0 home loss to Salford City, the U's were beaten 3-0 at Chesterfield, leaving them 12th in the table, seven points adrift of the top six with 12 games to play.
Colchester are in their 10th successive season in League Two and have only reached the play-offs once in that time, in 2019-20.
"You have two choices in these moments, you look out the window or you look in the mirror and when they look in the mirror, they'll be pretty disappointed with how they've let each other down," a downbeat Cowley told BBC Essex.
Harry Anderson made his first start after two months out with a knee injury and Micah Mbick was used as a substitute following a hip problem which had sidelined him since 24 January.
But they were the only positives as far as head coach Cowley was concerned.
"They [Chesterfield] are one of the most talented teams in the division and found a really good rhythm and a flow but we didn't get anywhere near what we are capable of, in terms of our energy, our intensity and aggression against the ball - and with the ball we were really short of technical quality," he said.
"For the first 25 minutes, we didn't lay a glove on them. I said to them at half-time 'it's not a good strategy to let an opponent punch you in the face before you fight back'."
Cowley had no complaints about the handball decision from which his side conceded the first goal from the penalty spot, but believes Kyreece Lisbie was fouled in the build-up to the Spireites' second.
"He was picked up and thrown to the floor, it's like a judo move," he said.
Colchester are away to Newport County on Saturday (15:00 GMT) before a home game against Crawley Town the following Friday, two teams perched just above the relegation places.