‘TRIP TO WEMBLEY WOULD SILENCE DOUBTERS’

MARCO SILVA has promised Everton fans it’s a cup final or bust this season.

The Goodison boss tonight faces former club Watford in the Carabao Cup fourth round and knows that only victory will do to ease the pressure building once again.

The 3-2 defeat at Brighton on Saturday – when Lucas Digne scored a last-minute own goal – triggered further unrest from Blues fans who have seen their side slump to 16th in the Premier League table.

Silva believes the aim has to be to get to Wembley as a way of showing supporters the club is on the right track. And that means he will send out his strongest side tonight.

He said: “We want to reach the final. That’s a dream for our fans and we have to share with them that ambition. Our goal and our ambition in the competition is clear and this is not the moment for us to hide.

“The first thing is to see a desire to play in the next round. We have to go step by step and the next step is the

Watford match but our ambition is clear – and we have had it since the beginning of the season.”

Everton are not getting a lot of luck. On Saturday yet another VAR controversy gifted Brighton an unlikely equaliser just when the Blues seemed certain to collect the three points.

Silva, who still can’t believe a penalty was awarded against Michael Keane by VAR for a foul on Aaron Connolly, said of tonight’s showdown with the Hornets: “The atmosphere will be what we expect and the passion from our fans in both competitions – the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup – is really, really high. What I expect from our team is the same desire we showed in the last two cup games that we won (against Lincoln and Sheffield Wednesday).

“If we can give the same performance as we did against West Ham, we will be really close to winning the game.” Silva will be without winger Bernard (above), who suffered knee ligament damage at Brighton and is out for several months.

He added: “I’m 100 per cent sure he will return as quickly as he can. “But it is a blow for him and a blow for us as well because from a tactical point of view he is really important.”