Everton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin has claimed that his side's failure to crack the top four this season is down to their underwhelming away form.
The Toffees posted their best home return since 1989-90 this time around, accruing 43 points from 57 on offer - the third-best tally in the division.
It has been a different matter away from Goodison Park, however, as Everton have won just four of their 18 matches - fewer than strugglers Crystal Palace - which Schneiderlin believes is currently holding them back in their pursuit of Champions League football.
"We look stronger at home but we need to progress away from home and hopefully next year we will do that to catch the team above us because there is not a lot of margin between us and the top six," talkSPORT quotes him as saying.
"You can see the difference between home form and away form. That is the main thing. If we won more games away from home we could have been top five so we need to be able to rectify that and know why we have not had the results we want away from home.
"But the team is doing well and hopefully we can keep good players and bring in some good players to the club."
Everton, who are 12 points adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool, round off their campaign with a trip to take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Daniel Lewis
