Everton FC News: We’re in a mess but don’t panic says Everton FC’s Steven Pienaar

Dec 1 2009 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

Everton FC News: STEVEN PIENAAR admits Everton find themselves in a “mess” in the Premier League – but has urged his team-mates not to panic.

The Goodison outfit slumped to 16th place, just three points above the relegation zone, after Sunday’s 2-0 derby defeat at home to Liverpool.

It continued a poor run of form for David Moyes’s side, who have won only one of their last 11 games in all competitions and taken six from a possible 24 league points.

Pienaar was Everton’s most impressive performer at the weekend on only his second start since returning after almost two months out with a knee injury.

And while the South Africa international is desperate to regain match sharpness and help the Goodison cause, he believes it would only take a couple of victories to transform their season.

“When you’ve been out injured for a while, you push yourself hard to get back to fitness,” said Pienaar. “The one thing I need now is match fitness to get back up to the pace of the game.

“It’s going to take a while but, for me, it’s important to be playing in every game and try and get the team out of the mess we find ourselves in.

“We didn’t even consider we might get dragged into a relegation fight. You just don’t think about it like that. Sometimes you can go on a bad run, and that’s what is happening with us now.

“But there are still plenty of games to go, we have a few over Christmas, so if we can win two games in a row then we will be back up the table. It’s nothing to panic about.”

Pienaar believes Everton should take heart from their performance against Liverpool, dominating for long periods on Sunday but unable to turn possession into goals.

The nearest they came was 20 minutes from time when visiting goalkeeper Pepe Reina made a remarkable double save to deny Tim Cahill and then Marouane Fellaini.

And Pienaar added: “We went out with a gameplan to put Liverpool under pressure, and that’s what we did. We got a few chances but unfortunately we couldn’t take any of them.

“The save by Reina was definitely a turning point. Liverpool have got a world-class goalkeeper and he made the save to keep his team ahead.

“Had that chance gone in, then it would have been a different game.

“ We were on the front foot, but that’s the thing about football - sometimes you get the luck, and sometimes you don’t.

“The supporters at Goodison will have been disappointed with the result but I’m sure they’d be happy with the effort we put in.”

Pienaar was among the party that flew to Greece yesterday in preparation for tomorrow’s Europa League clash with AEK Athens.

Victory would secure Everton’s progress to the knockout stages of the competition, the confidence from which the midfielder believes can bolster their faltering Premier League campaign.

“The Liverpool result doesn’t help our position in the table at all, but in football you have a chance to right things quickly, and on Wednesday we have a chance to make things right,” said Pienaar.

“It will be a difficult game, but three points away from home would be a real morale boost ahead of the next Premier League game (against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday).

“Europe can help our league form. If we win in Athens, it can lift our spirits in the Premier League as well.”