Dwight McNeil believes Everton’s narrow escape from relegation last season can have a positive effect as they seek to drag themselves clear of the bottom three again.
The Blues’ hopes of Premier League survival suffered a huge blow as they were beaten by Fulham at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon. Harrison Reed put the visitors, who ended a run of five consecutive defeats, ahead midway through the first half.
However, McNeil restored parity 10 minutes before the break when he finished from the edge of the box. But second-half goals from Harry Wilson and Dan James secured all three points for Marco Silva’s side.
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Everton now find themselves one place above the drop zone with just seven games remaining. Next up for the Blues is a trip to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace, and McNeil insists his side will be out to right the wrongs of their last outing against Roy Hodgson's side.
He said: "It's hard; it's a tough one to take. When we scored, we finished the half strong and could have been 2-1 up. Another poor goal to concede, and then it's tough to get back into the game.
"I think everyone played with freedom and on the front foot, and we finished the half well, but if you don't take your chances, you get punished. Every game for us is massive.
"It's a tough one to take home. I think we've been in this position before, and the lads know what we need to do to stay up. I have confidence in that, but it's a tough one to take today.
"We know where we have gone wrong, and we want to correct it. Big week and big games ahead."
Meanwhile, Fulham goal scorer Wilson has revealed that a big part of his side’s game plan was to silence the Goodison Park crowd in the opening stages of the game.
"That was a big part of our team talk before the game; we knew if we started well, we could kill the atmosphere," Wilson revealed.
"We let them back into it at the end of the first half, but I think in the second half, as soon as we got the goal, we controlled the game and the atmosphere."
Before he added: "Great, it was a massive game for us, as we've not been the best of late. It was a big game for them, but for us as well, because we wanted to get back to the levels we had been earlier this season."
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