Manchester City coach David Platt admits they're struggling to get out of second gear after victory over QPR.
Platt admits City have failed to fire as they did at the start of last season's title-winning campaign.
Platt said: "I do not think we are playing as well as we did at the start of last season when we were blowing teams away and keeping clean sheets.
"There is an expectancy from ourselves and our supporters and we are not quite up to the levels we were last season.
"But we sit there with seven points out of nine knowing we can improve. We have to be more consistent as a team.
"Last season at the start we would have closed a game out early on. That can give you confidence and deflate the opposition."