Everton manager Willie Kirk says his side are looking to go "back to basics" this weekend after a difficult start to the WSL season.
Everton face Birmingham City on Saturday, having started the campaign with back-to-back 4-0 defeats against Manchester City and Chelsea.
A first victory of the season against a winless Birmingham will lift them off the bottom of the table.
"We're going to strip it back to basics," Kirk said.
"I was surprised, disappointed and maybe a little shocked at times on reflection and I think the international break has been good for me.
"We know some of the reasons for the poor start. Some of those reasons we can rectify straight away and some we just need to be patient with."
Kirk was clear about his and the club's ambitions ahead of the campaign, with a top-three finish and Champions League football the aim. These positions have previously been dominated by Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal.
Last season they finished 16 points adrift of third-placed Arsenal - a gap which the 43-year-old said was "way too big".
A busy summer of transfers saw nine new faces come in, including the return of Toni Duggan to her hometown club, but after a challenging start, Kirk has warned against trying to change "too much too soon".
"We've done a lot of work over the summer in terms of recruitment," he added.
"There was always going to be a bedding-in time, but there will also be long-term benefits from that.
"We're trying to bed the new players into the squad and, as well as bringing them in, we've tried to change the system. That's probably been too many changes too quickly, so we're going to go back to basics and back to a system that we know very well.
"We're not starting again, but we need to make sure that we bed things in properly before moving forward."
'We want the spotlight on us'
Despite the losing start, Kirk remains positive about the club's targets.
He identified the recent international break as a "good time to reflect", with Saturday's game feeling like a fresh start for him and the players.
"The ambition adds a little bit of extra pressure at times," added Kirk.
"But we want to be under pressure, we want the spotlight on us, we want to be seen as a top team and we wanted this added exposure which we've now got.
"The international break was a good time to reflect, especially when we've changed so many things.
"Saturday's game feels a bit like we're starting again after the international break because it comes so early on in the season.
"It almost feels like a restart now and we'll certainly be treating Saturday as that in terms of our enthusiasm.
"The players are looking forward to being back. So am I and we're looking forward to being back out there."