Marco Silva has said the character of Everton’s players is not in doubt but faces a fierce examination away at Millwall on Saturday.
Silva wants a reaction from his team to last weekend’s weak display at Southampton in what represents Everton’s final hope of ending a 24-year trophy drought this season. The club have taken only two points from 10 games in which they have conceded first in the Premier League this term, the 2-1 defeat at St Mary’s included, and Silva admits their response to setbacks is concerning.
“I know these numbers and this reality shows us that, until now, we didn’t react when something went wrong against us in a match,” he said. “It is something we are working on and I am speaking to our players about as well. If something happens we still have 30,40,60 minutes and the conditions to continue what we are doing.
“It is clear it is one of the things we have to improve because, if something goes wrong for us in one minute of that match, that shouldn’t mean everything was wrong until then. The facts are clear. We have to improve in these situations.”
However, Silva insists that a lack of character is not the cause of Everton’s fragility when falling behind. “I am 100% sure of the character of our players,” he added. “If I don’t believe in the character of our players I am in the wrong position. As a squad we have to improve but I don’t have doubts about their character because every day I see how hard they work.
“They are strong and are really upset and angry when we didn’t achieve the results we wanted. All they want to is to perform well and give our fans what they deserve.”
Everton have won only twice on the road this season and Silva is aware of the threat posed by Neil Harris’ side at the intimidating Den. Silva said: “I know the reputation, the stadium and our history as a club against them. It is always tough for us to achieve good results there and it will be tough again. They achieved 29 points up to now in the Championship and 22 of them came at home. It is up to us to prove our quality and why we are Everton Football Club inside the pitch because words are not enough.”