Conor Gallagher admits Chelsea's players must accept blame and be self-critical after conceding Brighton "wanted it a bit more" during Saturday's 4-1 Premier League thrashing at the Amex Stadium.
Graham Potter's return to the south coast fired up a raucous home crowd and ended in embarrassment as his former club emphatically inflicted his maiden defeat as Blues boss.
Leandro Trossard's early opener was followed by first-half own goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Trevoh Chalobah before Pascal Gross completed Potter's misery after Kai Havertz had given the visitors a glimmer of hope.
England midfielder Gallagher acknowledged Chelsea were well below the standards required as they fell to a first loss in the 10 games since the sacking of Thomas Tuchel.
"It's a tough one to take," the 22-year-old told his club's website. "At the end of the day, we we're not good enough individually or as a team.
"It seemed like they wanted it a bit more than us.
"We have to look at ourselves. We're to blame and we are gutted, very disappointed in ourselves as a team as we know we're so much more professional than that.
"Credit to Brighton, they were very good. They're a top team, their fans were up for it."
Potter and his coaching staff, who moved to Stamford Bridge seven weeks ago, faced jeers from the moment they stepped off the team coach in Sussex.
The 47-year-old guided Brighton to their first top-half finish in the top flight last term and had the club flying high in fourth position at the time of his departure.
His presence as pantomime villain fuelled a hostile environment under which the rampant hosts thrived and Chelsea ultimately wilted.
Yet, despite a dismal start in which they fell 2-0 behind inside 14 minutes, Gallagher twice went close to
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