Brian Sorensen has said his side "need to do better" if they are to avoid a second consecutive defeat in the Women's Super League this weekend.
The Blues four-game unbeaten run came to an end last time out, with former Everton midfielder Kenza Dali's strike helping Aston Villa to a 2-0 victory at Walton Hall Park. The result saw Everton stay sixth in the WSL table, four points off Villa with a game in hand, and Sorensen believes his side will need to put in an improved display against Leicester on Sunday if they are to keep pace with their mid-table rivals.
"I think you could see it was a month since we last played a game," the Dane said, reflecting on last weekend's clash with the Villans. "We weren’t at the tempo we want to play at. We felt in control, we had the ball but we were just not sharp enough.
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"Our passing accuracy was not acceptable and it means the executing of everything was not as sharp. It’s one of those games where we were not peaking at all but I still felt we were the better team in parts of it.
"We rushed things in the final third and we weren’t clinical enough. Looking back at it, it wasn’t overall a good performance. We acknowledge that and we need to do better."
Everton will get the chance to get back on track when they take on the Foxes at the King Power this weekend. Willie Kirk's side are rock bottom of the WSL, though their two league victories have both come since the turn of the year and Sorensen is expecting a challenging encounter when his side travels to the East Midlands.
"They are hard to play against," the Everton boss said. "They’re aggressive, they play as a unit and they’re starting to pick up points.
"For me, they’re a tougher opponent than Aston Villa because they they are more unorthodox in the way that they do things. They are very compact centrally and they are super aggressive; that is not always the most fun thing to play against. It’s going to be a tough game but we want to get back winning again."
Sorensen's squad will be bolstered by the return of midfielder Hanna Bennison, who missed last weekend's clash through illness, however the Blues are still set to be without goalkeeper Emily Ramsey as she continues her rehabilitation from an ankle injury.
"Benni was not available last weekend because she was sick but she is in, and is ready again," Sorensen said. "(Emily's) treatment is going well. She is off the boot and is doing rehab exercises for the ankle.
"It is hard to say, is it three or four more weeks? Is it five or six? It depends on how the rehab is going, we are not putting a timescale on it and are assessing it week by week."
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