NO FEAR Big Sam uses sports psychologist to tackle the Toffees’ travel sickness

SAM ALLARDYCE has turned to a sports psychologist to end Everton’s away-day blues.

The Toffees boss believes that fear lies behind his side’s dismal record on the road in recent years... and revealed Goodison Head Performance Psychologist Dr Martin Littlewood has been working with the first-team squad on mentality.

“I think it’s fear away from home. I think the fear kicks in because everything in the world of football today revolves around coping with pressure,” he said.

Under Allardyce, Everton have won just once in eight games on their Premier League travels since he arrived in November.

But the problem is much deeper, because that was their only win away all season.

In fact, they won just two league games away from home in the whole of 2017... and the manager explained that is why he had turned to the sports psychologist to try to shift attitudes amongst his squad. “I hope it will have an effect on how we achieve a result – everything in football today revolves around coping with pressure,” he said.

“The way you cope with the pressure is being able to focus and, if the sports psychologist allows them to focus on the positives rather than the negatives around them, then it gives them a better chance of delivering a performance.

“We have tried a number of things – change of system, change of personnel – I think the change of mentality is the big one. We have been using a bit more working on the mind in the analysis room.

“They are getting some help. We have used our in-house sports psychologist, who has been here for quite some time, and slowly he is integrating himself with some of the sessions with the players.”

The Toffees visit a Stoke side tomorrow who share with them the worst away record in the top flight this season. For Allardyce, the task is simple: shift the mentality to get the players anxious about their performance, but not fearful.

He added: “You have to find a balance between complacency and fear. You lie in the middle, which is anxiety. You have to be anxious before the game, but not too fearful. Too fearful and you freeze. Too complacent, and it’s just as bad as being too fearful.

“Fear can do many things to a player on the pitch, where it looks like he has frozen and can’t deliver what he can.

“That focus mentally has always been important to football, being able to let the mind function and make the right decisions. That is a key element to success – to make fewer errors. Most games are won or lost on errors.”