PRESSURE DOESN’T SCARE ME, SAYS SILVA
MARCO SILVA scoffed at the suggestion that his description of Everton’s next game — at home to West Ham — as ‘mustwin’ has put unnecessary pressure on him and his players. ‘What’s the problem?’ Silva replied. ‘The pressure is here. I am never scared about the pressure. Never, never, never. ‘It’s the way I work. I don’t have problems with the pressure. When I say to you it’s a mustwin game, it’s a must-win game.’ The international break can be a precarious time for struggling managers and Silva is banking on the continued support of the club’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri. Everton’s descent towards the relegation places continued with a fourth Premier League defeat in a row at the hands of Burnley, after Jeff Hendrick volleyed home a deserved winner midway through the second half. At the end, Silva (right) went to applaud the Everton fans in the away end and was met with a torrent of abuse. ‘I face up to things, more in these periods than the others,’ he said. ‘I went there to the fans because it’s what we must do. I still believe in the players and the quality we have. We had a worse period last season, longer than this one, and they reacted well. ‘In this way the things will change for us, but the belief is the same, no doubt.’ Everton were not helped by the sending-off of captain Seamus Coleman, who received a second yellow card 11 minutes after half-time for fouling Dwight McNeil, having been fortunate to escape a straight red for an awful late tackle on Erik Pieters in the first half. Pieters played on but eventually succumbed to the leg injury and left Turf Moor wearing a protective boot. ‘It felt bad,’ said the Dutchman. ‘It’s lucky I didn’t break it. ‘I know he (Coleman) didn’t mean it. Straightaway, he stayed with me and apologised like 10 times. Even coming on in the second half, he apologised. ‘It’s sore now but it’s going to be OK. Better to be safe than sorry, isn’t it?’ BURNLEY (4-4-2): Pope 7; Lowton 7, Tarkowski 6.5, MEE 8, Pieters 6.5 (Taylor 55min, 6.5); Gudmundsson 6 (Lennon 84), Hendrick 7, Westwood 6.5, McNeil 7; Wood 6, Barnes 6 (Rodriguez 73, 6). Subs not used: Hart, Long, Brady, Vydra. Scorer: Hendrick 72. Booked: Hendrick, Westwood. Manager: Sean Dyche 7. EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Pickford 6.5; Coleman 5, Keane 6, Mina 6, Digne 6.5; Schneiderlin 6 (Gomes 84), Delph 7; Richarlison 5.5, Sigurdsson 5 (Sidibe 59, 6), Iwobi 7; Calvert-Lewin 6 (Kean 74, 5.5). Subs not used: Lossl, Holgate, Bernard, Davies. Booked: Sidibe, Coleman. Sent off: Coleman. Manager: Marco Silva 5. Referee: Graham Scott 7. Attendance: 20,650.
Volleyed: Hendrick (left) and Westwood celebrate the goal