Everton striker Romelu Lukaku has insisted that he is willing to put in the hard work in order to ensure that he fulfills his potential.
The Belgian last season became the first Everton player since 1986 to score 25 goals in a single campaign, and he already has 17 for the 2016-17 season following his four-goal haul against Bournemouth on Saturday.
The 23-year-old tops the Premier League goalscoring charts with 16 in the top flight, and he paid tribute to both former manager Roberto Martinez and current boss Ronald Koeman for helping him to develop as a player.
"I am a guy that works really hard at the training ground. I know that hard work will pay off. Whatever the manager told me at the start of the season I just stuck to it. I believed in his philosophy of football and it helped me going forward. I trust the process that he wants to do with this football club. For me it is not different to Roberto Martinez. They both helped me in different ways. I learn from them a lot of stuff," he told reporters.
"I learned from Martinez about my movements, he taught me so much about that. The manager now is just helping me with the extra details, with the pressing of the balls and with my running off the ball and also the mental aspect of the game. He wants me to be focused at any time because he knows with my finishing if I have the ball in the last minute of the game I can decide the game. I'm delivering in whatever situations he wants me to play in.
"I don't want to look ahead too far. That is the mistake I did last year. I was focusing already ahead and looking forward to things in front instead of the present. Now for me it is just game after game, day after day. I know how good I can be but you have to put the work in. I'm willing to do it. I'm never going to hide from any criticism I get, whether it is in the past or the future.
"We are paid to perform and I just want to perform. I want to do my best for the team and help the team win so that the club can get where it wants to be in the future. I believe in my abilities but I believe in my teammates. That is the most important thing. If you don't believe in your teammates then they are not going to put a shift in for you. If I can help them by scoring goals and they help me by serving me the ball then we can go a long way."
Everton currently sit seventh in the Premier League table, seven points adrift of the top four.
Barney Corkhill
