TOUGH Blues ace James
SEAN DYCHE insists the only league table he’s worried about is the one at the end of the season, after his Everton side picked up a gritty point in South London.
In isolation, this result was a decent one for a struggling team that had won just once in their previous eight.
But they still dropped into the relegation zone and defender James Tarkowski said he expected more of his side’s forward players.
The overall picture is a worrying one for Everton and the brutal truth is they now have just six games to save their Premier League status.
Asked about his side dropping into the bottom three Dyche, whose team finished with 10 men after Mason Holgate was sent off for two bookable offences, said: “It’s just the reality of when I got here.
“That’s the league table and I don’t really bother with it until the end of the season.
“Nothing means anything apart from that one, so my focus stays on that.
“The bit in between is the performance levels, fitness of the players, organisation, strategy and the process we go through to make sure that table looks alright for us.”
Despite his focus on the end game, Dyche conceded that there’s a brutal truth to what they must do.
He added: “The reality is we need to win games.”
To do that they need to score goals and Dominic Calvert-lewin’s return will give them more hope on that front.
This was only his second appearance under Dyche and he put himself about but couldn’t find the net.
Tarkowski said: “We were quite disappointed, we’re in a real battle and we need more.
“We had the opportunity to pick up three points. To grind it out with 10 men is nice but there’s way more from us.
“We defended well, we had conceded a few goals recently so that’s a plus, but we need to do more and expect more from our forward players. We have some really talented boys but we need more from them.”
It was a frank judgement and Dyche added: “It’s fair of every player to have an assessment about every other player.
“Players should demand more of each other no matter what their position is.”
This was a dog of a game, with few clear-cut chances at either end.
Eberechi Eze did find the net with a lovely lob over Jordan Pickford but he had strayed well offside.
He also forced the best save of the game when a curling effort was well dealt with by the Everton keeper.
Alex Iwobi’s first-half drive was saved by Sam Johnstone and Calvertlewin went close after a nice turn.
Holgate was sent off late on when he fouled Jordan Ayew, the same player he had shoved in the opening half for his first caution.
Dyche said: “The second yellow, he has touched the ball and his foot has kind of slid over the top of the ball.
“I can see why the referee gives it but on another day you might get away with that one.”
Palace boss Roy Hodgson said: “This game will never go down in the annals of history as one of the best ever.
“But our fans have been spoiled in the last few weeks and if you want to survive in the Premier League you have to be able to battle in
these games.”