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Head coach Fabian Hurzeler says inconsistency and lapses in concentration are responsible for Brighton & Hove Albion’s fall into the bottom half of the table.

Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at league leaders Arsenal stretched Brighton’s winless run to five matches and dropped them to 13th in the standings. They were in fifth place at the end of November and two goals up in 29 minutes at home to Aston Villa in the first fixture in December before an eventual 4-3 loss launched the decline.

“The consistency, first half, second half, the lack in some moments of paying attention, of doing the small margins right,” Hurzeler said of the reasons behind his team’s downturn during his press briefing for Tuesday’s trip to West Ham United.

“In the end against Arsenal it was about small margins, how you defend when you lose the ball, how you defend set pieces. It started with the Villa game, the small margins, and now it’s an ongoing thing. We have to find solutions and then we will get out of this phase.”

Hurzeler’s side face a key period of four matches in pursuit of their ambitions to qualify for Europe and chase their first domestic silverware. West Ham and Saturday’s visitors Burnley are both in the relegation zone. That is followed by a trip to Manchester City and an FA Cup third round tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

“It’s not a great run, so no-one is full of confidence if you don’t win for five games, but that’s something we have faced already several times,” Hurzeler said. “Now it’s about sticking together, finding solutions together, taking responsibility, then I am quite confident that we have a big chance (against West Ham) to stop this run.”

Kaoru Mitoma has recovered from illness after missing the Arsenal match and Danny Welbeck is expected to be an option to return to the starting line-up. The 35-year-old centre forward has been limited to two late substitute appearances since starting the 1-1 home draw against West Ham in early December due to a back injury.

Andy Naylor worked for 32.5 years on the sports desk of The Argus, Brighton’s daily newspaper. For the last 25 of those years he was chief sports reporter, primarily responsible for coverage of Brighton and Hove Albion FC. Follow Andy on Twitter @AndyNaylorBHAFC