Everton defender Phil Jagielka has insisted that his side are not yet in a relegation battle, despite a poor run of form in the Premier League.
Sunday's 2-2 draw with Leicester City means that the Merseyside club have won just one of their last 10 league games, and they sit just six points clear of the relegation zone.
The centre-back told reporters: "As much as we are aware of the predicament we are in, we don't see ourselves as being in the relegation battle at the moment. It wouldn't take a lot to put us in there, a few bad results for us, a few good results for the teams around us and we will drop into that battle.
"But as it stands at the moment if we keep performing okay, get back to keeping clean sheets and keep grinding out results, then hopefully the league will take care of itself. Then we can look forward to the European games because there is something special to go for there. But the first thing that has to be prioritised is the Premier League because we are not in a good position at all.
"It is definitely not a case of not being fired up [for the league] or anything like that. You can see the disappointed faces in the dressing room and that is purely because we felt we let ourselves down [against Leicester]."
Everton's next league game is away at Arsenal on Sunday.
Charlie Bennett
