BATTLE TO BEAT DROP
DWIGHT MCNEIL has been taking his inspiration from the Last Dance documentary series that follows basketball legend Michael Jordan’s final shot at glory.
And the Everton winger insists he is now in a much better place to face the music than he was when he suffered the ignominy of relegation with Burnley a year ago.
The Merseysiders need to beat Bournemouth at Goodison to be certain of another late escape, with Mcneil’s fine form helping to keep Sean Dyche’s team out of the bottom three, going into their final game.
Mcneil said: “This season feels completely different to last year.
“I had never been in that situation before and it probably didn’t really hit me until it had actually happened.
“It was quite difficult to take that day – but being in this position again doesn’t feel the same.
“I am going into the game with more confidence because it is still in our hands.
“It’s up to us. We are home. Bournemouth have had a good season, but we will focus on ourselves, knowing that a win means the job is done.
“We’ve had a good week of preparation – and now we have to finish it right.”
Mcneil, 23, is producing the most consistent form of his career.
He believes he has never played better than when scoring two
goals in the shock 5-1 win at highflying Brighton earlier this month, which gave Everton a lifeline.
They got an even stronger grip on it when defender Yerry Mina scrambled home a last-minute equaliser at Wolves last week.
Relegation rivals Leeds were beaten at West Ham the following day and, 24 hours later, Leicester kept their slim hopes alive by taking a point at Newcastle.
Mcneil (right) admitted: “I didn’t watch any of the Leeds game – I went out with my missus for the afternoon.
“And on Monday I decided to watch a film and then check the result afterwards.
“I love watching football. I’ll usually watch any game, but those two games I just couldn’t bear to watch.
“So we watched The Last Dance (above) on Netflix.
“The way Michael Jordan is, with his persona and his personality, we really enjoyed it
“We’re at home for the final
game with our fans behind us. We’ve got to treat it like it’s a normal game, but we know what’s at stake and the job that needs to be done.”
Last year, while Mcneil and the Burnley team that Dyche had left behind when he was sacked were getting relegated, they saw Everton produce one great escape by coming from behind to beat Crystal Palace. The promise that a lesson had been learnt turned out to be an empty one.
Mcneil added: “It wasn’t a nice experience. I had been at the club for a long time and it is something you never want to go through.
“It wasn’t the way I wanted to end my time at Burnley.
“From Everton’s point of view, it was great how they stayed up.”