Everton FC News: David Moyes warns his side they must not fall further behind the Premier League pace-setters

Nov 2 2009 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

Everton manager David Moyes warns his side they must not fall further behind the Premier League pace-setters

Everton FC News: DAVID MOYES has warned misfiring Everton they cannot run the risk of having to play catch-up in the Premier League once again this season.

The Goodison Park faithful suffered another frustrating afternoon when Moyes’s men were held to a 1-1 draw by Aston Villa on Saturday.

It was the third successive home game to end in that scoreline and extended Everton’s winless run to six games, leaving them firmly ensconced in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

Everton were in a similar position this time last season before rallying to secure a second consecutive fifth-placed finish.

And although the tight nature of the current standings mean a run of wins could propel his team nearer the leading contenders, Moyes admits the Goodison outfit must arrest their slump in form.

“I used to always start seasons really well and not finish them that good, but the reverse isn’t ideal,” said the Everton manager. “But if you finish the season stronger, then you tend to have a better chance of winning things, although you can be knocked out earlier if you don’t get up and running. The key is to be consistent throughout the season, and we’ve shown ourselves capable of doing that in the last few years.

“The situation we are in, there is a danger that if we drop too many points at this stage we won’t be able to catch up later on in the season. But the tightness of the Premier League has meant we aren’t a million miles away. We know we aren’t at the standard that we want, but we aren’t a million miles away. But know we have to do better. We have to start winning games.”

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov fired Everton into the lead on the stroke of half-time on Saturday only for Aston Villa substitute John Carew to equalise less than 60 seconds into the second half.

Bilyaletdinov was then given a straight red in the 87th minute for a foul on Stiliyan Petrov while Villa were reduced to 10 men during injury time with Carlos Cuellar dismissed after a second bookable offence.

And of the game, Moyes said: “We know we have to get better. If Villa are going for the top four, and you’d have to say they have a chance as they are a good team, then on this evidence Everton are not that far behind. That was the case in the last couple of seasons. We are better than where we are at the moment, and hopefully we can move up the table.”

Bilyaletdinov had only just recovered from a calf problem, with Leighton Baines and Joseph Yobo also returning to start easing the injury headache of Moyes.

But the manager admits the availability of more players will leave him with a different kind of selection poser. He said: “If we get the squad fit then we’ll have some decisions to make.

“We don’t have that at the moment.

“The hardest part for us right now is that we are playing people out of position. Tim Cahill is not a wide player, but he has to play out there, or we have to put young Dan Gosling in again.

“We have tried to get a formation that gives us the best chance of winning games. We lined up in a way so not to concede, and we should have capitalised more in the first half before we got sloppy for Villa’s equaliser and they got stronger.”

Moyes had no qualms with Bilyaletdinov’s red card but admits Cuellar was unfortunate to be dismissed.

“I have seen challenges like Billy’s given a red so I have to accept it,” he said. “There is a possibility it was a red.

“I thought it was harsh on Aston Villa even though the boy had two or three fouls after his first booking but I think the ref reacted after the Billy challenge.”