Slavisa Jokanovic feels some of Fulham's players do not "hurt" enough when they are left out of his starting XI.
The Cottagers boss, whose 12 summer signings cost more than £100million, has experimented with his team selection since winning promotion to the Premier League.
His side have so far struggled to make the step up and sit in the relegation zone after conceding 28 goals and registering just one win from 10 games.
"This process is never finished, other players are going to have an opportunity to push hard and fight for the space in the team," Jokanovic said of his team selection.
"I want to encourage my players to not wait for an opportunity. I want to encourage them to fight, to force the situation and show me they are my best choice. This is what I expect.
"I want to make some competition between them and for them to be hurt when they are not in the starting XI. This is what I miss right now.
"And we're going to push harder and in this way be competitive in Premier League games too."
Fulham have suffered four successive top-flight defeats and gone seven matches without victory.
The west London club travel to bottom side Huddersfield on Monday evening searching for a first win since August 26.
Jokanovic has demanded improvement from his whole squad and urged them to relish the challenge of rectifying their disappointing start.
"We need more, it's simple. At the beginning it's not enough and we cannot be satisfied with ourselves," he said
"We didn't make our supporters satisfied too. They observe us and they are waiting for the reaction.
"It's not for the reaction of one player or two, it's the reaction of all the team.
"We wanted to start with more points, with more quality. This challenge is open, is ahead of us, and we must be brave."