MCNEIL EXPLAINS HOW THE BLUES REACTED TO DELETION

Dwight McNeil believes a boost in confidence has been important to Everton’s outstanding away run, which has kept the club fighting for Premier League points.

Under Sean Dyche, Everton have never lost when opening the scoring (winning 10 and drawing four), and McNeil gave the Toffees a 67th-minute lead at Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening.

Everton won 1-0 for the sixth time this season on the road in all competitions, despite being docked 10 points by the Premier League’s disciplinary committee.

After the game, McNeil spoke with evertontv on the team’s collective reaction to the ruling, adding, “We had a meeting as a group about what’s gone on and what we were going to do about it, and we all decided not to let it affect us.”

“If anything, it has fueled us even more.” We know we have a minus-10 point deficit, but we’ve just accepted it – especially on Saturday, when that’s a huge three points away from home.

“We have to keep going and forget about it, and just focus on us, one game at a time.” We understand how important this time of year is. There are a lot of games around Christmas, so we have to stay together.”

With their third consecutive away win, the Toffees have already won as many Premier League away games this season as they did in 2021/22 and 2022/23 combined.

McNeil, who described the improvement in performance, believes that confidence is crucial to those better outcomes.

“I think it’s having the belief within ourselves and believing we can beat teams at their own grounds,” he went on to say. “It’s all about the process, and it’s finally paying off.” It’s just as crucial to win at home as it is on the road, so we know we have to keep pushing and get more points at home.

“We want to keep going as a team and improve as a team.” We absolutely believe we are a good team this year, in my opinion. We know as a squad that we need to improve collectively – for ourselves, the fans, and the Club – and finish as high as possible. We know we have a terrific team, but we’re also starting to put in performances and score points.

“It’s not easy [going to Forest] and getting three points, but we did that and we deserved it.”

Everton were inspired by the tremendous away support throughout Saturday’s game. McNeil understands the importance of the traveling Evertonians and is eager to repay them with more victories.

“Every game, they’re amazing and they were amazing again for the full 90 minutes,” he said. “They were with us at all times. We appreciate what they do for us and want to repay them by putting up strong performances and winning games.

“It’s classy, especially considering what’s happened.” It’s their life at stake, therefore it’s huge for them. It felt good to give back to the supporters as a group and as a team.”