The Japanese team moved ten points clear in the standings after both their drivers managed to score at the European Grand Prix last week.
Renault, in contrast, had a race to forget, leaving Valencia with no points.
But despite their gap to Toyota, Symonds is optimistic that Renault can still turn things around in the six remaining races.
"It's a tough battle and we know it's going to be hard work," said Symonds. "With six races to go they've got ten points advantage on us, which is a reasonable lead, especially when you consider that we are fighting for the smaller points paying positions.
"We never underestimate anyone and we need to fight hard with them, but I do believe that we have what it takes, as a team, to beat them. We know there's a lot to do and, of course, a freak result can make a big difference, but if all things are equal and we battle until the end of the season, I think it's an achievable target."
He added: "The whole team is hungry for fourth place in the championship. We recognise that our start to the season had far too much hangover from last year, but I think we recovered well from that and have shown that we can out-develop most of our rivals.
"We desperately want that fourth place and we are going to be fighting hard to try and get it."
Fernando Alonso echoed Symonds's thoughts and insisted the team should not change their goals.
"Even though the European Grand Prix turned out to be a race to forget, we should not lower our aims," he added. "I am sure that the team is giving 100% to achieve our objective and I will also give my maximum to try and get a strong result and score some points.
"At the beginning of the season things were not easy, but we have improved and we are determined to continue in this direction."
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