Sydney Sixers coach Trevor Bayliss insists his side are not worse than they were last year but rather the other teams all seem to have improved.
The defending champions have lost three consecutive matches, the latest defeat a nine-wicket hammering against the Adelaide Strikers at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
But Bayliss believes there's still time for his team to turn things around, as long as they match the level of the teams above them.
"We're just off our game, the confidence is not quite there as it was last year," Bayliss told Omnisport on Monday.
"Being the champions, the other teams are stepping it up against us.
"They've all improved and we haven't improved as yet, so we've got to step it up."
It's difficult to halt a 'losing momentum', but the Sixers won the Champions League Twenty20 tournament just two months ago and Bayliss wants to see his players reclaim that confidence.
"We've got to play with a lot more attitude - go out and play in that confident manner and back the ability that they've quite obviously got," Bayliss said.
"I don't think we've done that as well as we did last year."
Both Sydney teams have struggled so far, with the Sixers and the Thunder bringing up the bottom of the table.
The two Melbourne sides, meanwhile, are comfortable at the top, with Bayliss especially impressed by the way the Renegades have gone about their business.
"To win championships, as we found out last year, you don't necessarily need the best players in the competition," he said.
"But if everyone in the team performs it goes a long way to winning competitions."
Bayliss said his players haven't played the 'big moments' well enough so far, but he's hoping that changes on Boxing Day, when they play the Hobart Hurricanes in a must-win match at the SCG.
First Posted 24 December, 2012 3:22PM AEST
