DIGNE: IT’S MY FIRST XMAS ON PITCH
ALL Everton defender Lucas Digne wants for Christmas is to play football. And the Frenchman reckons five wins from a busy programme would represent the perfect Yuletide. The Toffees will play Tottenham, Burnley, Brighton and Leicester in the Premier League before a third-round FA Cup clash with Lincoln. Digne, 25, is looking forward to his first taste of festive football after enjoying winter breaks during previous seasons spent with Lille, Paris Saint-germain, Roma and Barcelona. He said: “I’m very happy to be playing over Christmas. “Christmas is about spending it with your family – and Everton is now my family. “So it’s perfect, because you can play football and then, afterwards, you spend time with your family. “My parents and my brother are coming to England this weekend to stay for the holidays. “It will be my first time playing on Boxing Day. We want to win all five Christmas games. “The challenge is to take as many points as we can and then we will see what happens.” Digne, who arrived at Everton in the summer in an £18million deal from Barca, has settled in well at Goodison. He joined his teammates to hand out presents to poorly kids at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in the build-up to today’s visit of Spurs. And, after scoring with a spectacular last-gasp free-kick to secure a point against Watford in Everton’s last home game, Digne is keen to get back to winning ways. Digne said: “It was a good moment [to score against Watford], but I always prefer to win than score. “I always practise freekicks, all the time with Gylfi [Sigurdsson] and Richi [Richarlison]. “I didn’t really look at what time it was in the game. I just said to Richi that I wanted to take the free-kick because I just felt that I could score. “I think we were then a little bit unlucky to lose against Manchester City last week, but we need to be focused throughout every game. “Tottenham are also a very good team, but we play at home and we need to play our best. “A lot of people will believe in our team because they can see we give everything on the pitch. “Even every substitute that comes on the pitch gives 100 per cent.” Digne added: “I feel very good. I’ve been available to play every game and the manager gives me confidence. “Since I arrived at the club, my team-mates have been amazing. They’ve helped me with my English. “When you feel good off the pitch, you can feel good on the pitch.”