Pickford’s rallying call to struggling Everton side
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford believes the players are up for the fight as they find themselves mired in a relegation battle.
The 1-0 defeat at home by Aston Villa was their 10th in 14 league matches and the slide towards the bottom of the table has become an unthinkable but glaring reality for a club who have not been relegated since 1951.
With his side now just four points outside the bottom three, when the Premier League resumes after the international break caretaker manager Duncan Ferguson faces a must-win game at fellow strugglers Newcastle.
The former Toffees striker, taking interim charge during the hunt for a seventh permanent manager in six years, praised the effort of his players against Villa and Pickford believes they must harness that spirit to get themselves out of trouble.
"I think the fight, intensity, tempo was there. We showed that graft," he told evertonfc.com.
"I think we showed character and desire. It was just that finishing touch (that evaded us) but that will come.
"It's about working hard on the training pitch, and then going out there and expressing yourself with determination and we'll get those results."
It is not a confidence felt by many fans, around 150 of whom staged a sit-in protest after the match to register their anger at the way a club without a manager, director of football, head of recruitment or scouting and who have spent more than £500million on transfers since owner Farhad Moshiri took over in 2016.
Banners called for the removal of board members.