Swansea boss Graham Potter believes his side are "some way off" being a top-six team after watching them struggle to a disappointing 1-1 draw against 10-man Preston.
Potter was left frustrated as the Swans wasted a glorious opportunity to close the gap to the play-off places.
Swansea hit the front 10 minutes into the second half when Courtney Baker-Richardson rifled home, but they were pegged back just five minutes later when Daniel Johnson kept his nerve from the penalty spot following a handball by Connor Roberts.
Potter said: "We scored a really good goal and started the second half really well and had control of the game.
"But when you concede it changes the game and they had a spell where it became scrappy and then it favoured them.
"You need to survive key moments and be a bit more clinical. We gave the ball away too easily and did not do enough to score more than one.
"We are some way off being a top-six side still and we need to keep improving.
"There are some good teams in this division. Sometimes you need luck at times and maybe we did not get that today."
The visitors broke the deadlock when Baker-Richardson fired home after a brilliant cut-back from Wayne Routledge.
But five minutes later the home side were awarded a penalty when Jayden Stockley's cross was ruled to have hit Roberts' arm. And Johnson made no mistake from the spot to level the match.
Preston half-time substitute Josh Earl had an afternoon to forget as he was sent off in the 81st minute, having picked up a second booking for a late challenge on Mike Van Der Hoorn.
Preston boss Alex Neil said: "Overall I think a point was a fair result. It was a bit of a stuffy game.
"I thought the sending-off was extremely harsh. I don't think either were clear bookings, the second one especially so. We didn't even think it was a foul, so we are disappointed with the decision.
"We brought Paul Huntington off at half-time because he had a bit of a tight groin and for tactical reasons.
"We did not have the right balance in the first half and needed to change it. We were better in the second half.
"We are still looking for players, we want to try and finish the window with as strong a squad as possible and so never say never.
"Jayden Stockley did really well at the top end of the pitch, he was a handful. Brad Potts grew into the game and was impressive, so it was a positive start for the new boys."
