DAVID MOYES insists Everton are not a club in crisis – as he prepared to revive their fight for European football next season.

The Blues camp has been smarting since last Saturday’s FA Cup quarter final embarrassment at the hands of Wigan, with plenty of criticism for the Scot and his players.

Some have questioned whether the defeat was enough to convince Moyes, who is out of contract in the summer, that his future lies elsewhere – but the man himself is in no mood to sit back and allow his side’s ambition this term to be buried with 10 Premier League games remaining.

He said: “The image of this club being in crisis is completely wrong. If you are an Everton supporter then what you saw last Saturday, you simply haven't seen very often all season or if you have it has been a very odd occasion.

“Look, if you are the manager you have to expect the criticism.

“But it isn’t something that you have seen here very often at Everton. Week in, week out you have actually watched pretty good football; we have been at the top end of the league, we have beaten Manchester United and Tottenham at home.

“We have been to Manchester City and drawn, we have drawn with Liverpool at home. You are not seeing a bad brand of football at Everton. Maybe some think they are.

“We have had a little bit of a dip in February. I said that. There have maybe one or two reasons but, overall, the players have done great.”

Moyes admits his decision not to rotate his small squad during their FA Cup run possibly contributed to their eventual downfall.

“Maybe our squad strength is catching up on us,” he said. “If you rotate your squad in the early rounds and get knocked out, people ask why you have changed the team.

“I changed a couple at Leeds (in the Capital One Cup) and we lost, so I made the decision afterwards not to change the team too much.

“Even against Cheltenham and Bolton (in the FA Cup) we didn't change, but you can find later in the season that has an effect. That is why managers do it.

“We are probably finding that out now, and finally running out of legs a little bit. But if we had got knocked out of the Cup earlier on, you would have been asking “why did you change your team?”

His decision to include club captain Phil Neville in the side at Darron Gibson’s expense last Saturday was also a bone of contention, after the 36-year-old gave the ball away in the build-up to Wigan’s second goal, but Moyes was quick to defend his skipper.

He added: “We beat Reading 3-1 and the team wasn’t dramatically different. Very little was mentioned that we had no Phil Jagielka was missing and the goalkeeper was out with a bad injury. There was a different focus.

“Phil Neville is a top player who plays in the big games and is a tremendous leader. I thought those qualities were required in the game.

“It was a freak result, they scored within seconds of the kick off each time, 20 seconds and they'd scored again, then another 20 seconds from the kick off they scored again - and that is almost unheard of. If you played it again, it wouldn't happen.”

Moyes believes he has seen the right signs in his squad this week that they are ready to make amends against Manchester City today, although he knows that task won’t be easy.

“I have seen a focus in the team,” he added. “I have seen it in their eyes. There is a sense of 'come on, we need to get back to it', but you have to take into the account the opposition we are facing.

“With that opposition and the level they are at we could play very well but still get nothing from the game. The most important thing is to see Everton back at the level of performance we usually deliver, even ahead of the result.”

The Everton players were booed off the Goodison pitch last Saturday, but Moyes is hoping the supporters can put that dismal afternoon behind them and focus on the positives this lunchtime.

“I would expect them (the fans) to treat the Cup game on its own, and not be looking back to it,” he added. “Because if you are looking back, then why concentrate just on last week - you should be looking back at what we have done all season.”