EVERTON should not be daunted by the task of over-hauling their trio of London rivals in the race for a Champions League place, insists Graham Stuart.

The Blues must attempt to surge past fifth-placed Arsenal and fourth-placed Chelsea if they are to achieve their top four dream, and that challenging task begins with a visit to third-placed Spurs on Sunday.

However former Blues FA Cup hero Stuart believes Andre Villas-Boas’ men may be stalked by the psychological trauma of their implosion last season, when they ultimately missed out on Champions League qualification despite finishing fourth.

Then under the guidance of Harry Redknapp, who was clashing behind the scenes with chairman Daniel Levy over his future, their impressive form for most of the season buckled after February only to see them over-taken in the Premier League table by rivals Arsenal.

And Stuart says Everton should take hope from the unpredictability of the closing months of the Premier League, and do everything they can to ensure the current order is shaken-up once again.

“I think realistically you have to start by looking after what you have to do, and make sure your performances produce the points you need,” says the former Chelsea and Charlton Athletic midfielder.

“But then you’ve got to hope Spurs and Arsenal slip up in some capacity and I think one of them will.

“We have to go to White Hart Lane and we have to go to the Emirates, so it’s in our hands in some respects. Even aside from those games I think one of them will slip up in some capacity.

“There will be twists and turns. Tottenham have had a rich vein of form and we all know Gareth Bale has been outstanding for them.

“But they’ll have in the back of their minds what happened last season when they fell away quite spectacularly. That will be there in their collective psyche.

“Arsenal have probably got the easiest run-in out of the lot but they are so inconsistent. One minute they look like world beaters, the next they’re getting rolled over by a bottom three side. It’s going to come down to who can be the most consistent over the remaining weeks.”

Stuart acknowledges that Everton’s hopes of the top four are distant, but maintains that qualification for the Europa League would be considerable consolation if their primary aim proves to be beyond them.

“It’s a good opportunity to put ourselves back up there on Sunday,” says Stuart. “There’s still half a chance of that top four.

“If we’re realistic about it, it’s an outside chance but it’s still a prospect. Certainly fifth or sixth is not out of our reach at all and hopefully that would bring European football and that represents a really good season.

“Obviously it will be tinged with the manner in which we went out of the FA Cup, which was an unbelievable opportunity, but credit to the boys and the coaching staff, they bounced back.

“Such was the manner of that Wigan defeat it was hard to take for everyone I’m sure; the players and everyone connected to the club. But there’s a spirit in the camp and there has been while David Moyes has been here certainly.

“They’re not guys to sulk – they pick themselves up and dust themselves down. There’s a lot to be said for that. What do you do? Crumble or dig in and pull yourself together? They did the latter and showed their pride. Hopefully it was the start of a good run-in now.”

Stuart, who scored 22 times for the Toffees between 1993 and 1997, believes it is important Everton’s big players step-up as the season approaches its climax.

“It’s great to see Jelavic score again against City. Hopefully that goal will have relieved him of that monkey on his back and he can just get going now. We need people scoring goals,” he says.

“If your strikers are firing you’ve got every chance. The realism is that everyone has to play well, but your big guns really have to start firing. You need your Fellainis, Jelavices, Pienaars to come good and lead from the front in the coming weeks.”