Ross McCormack knows Fulham must get to the bottom of their defensive woes as they prepare to face Preston on Tuesday night.
The Whites are second top scorers in the division but also have the second worst defensive record.
While that means games involving Fulham are liable to be goal-fests, the Scot, who has 20 goals already this season, knows his side must tighten up and believes it is a collective effort.
McCormack said: “We have been trying to put our finger on and work on what has been going wrong every day.
“But it is important to realise it is not just the two centre halves and the goalkeeper that are conceding the goals.
“Whether it is protection from midfield, or me and other forwards not getting back and helping the midfield – there are a lot of things involved.
“But what you can’t legislate for are sloppy goals like we let in against MK Dons, basic, two defenders going for the same ball.”
Fulham's win over MK Dons lifted them four points clear of the relegation zone, a position nobody expected the Whites to be in April.
McCormack was signed to spearhead a promotion push to the Premier League and he believes Slavisa Jokanovic will be backed in the summer to ensure the club are challenging at the top of the table next season.
He added: “The reason for coming here was to try and help Fulham go up, not be battling against relegation to League One.
“But the main thing now is staying in the division, and if we do that the manager will have funds in the summer to push us on.”
