Everton Women's boss Brian Sorensen has confirmed his summer transfer plans won't be impacted by the fortunes of the men's team, who are battling to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
Sean Dyche's side saw their crusade for top-flight survival hit a troubling stumbling block with Saturday's drab defeat to Fulham at Goodison Park. The result means Everton remain 17th in the table, with a superior goal difference over fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest the only thing keeping them out of the drop zone.
The Blues' bleak domestic campaign stands in complete juxtaposition to the efforts of the club's women's side, who have been on an impressive upward trajectory since Sorensen's arrival last summer. Everton Women are well on course to finish in the top half of the Women's Super League table, and their manager has now assuaged fears that their progress could be halted if the men's team are forced to surrender their long-held top-flight status this summer.
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"We’re focusing on our side of it and we have the budget to keep building and growing," Sorensen said ahead of the Blues' WSL clash at Brighton on Wednesday..
"We’re not stressed about [the impact of relegation from the Premier League]. We hope everything turns out really good but we’re just focusing on our team.
"We’re focusing on the last six games and then I think we have the foundations put down. We have some players on loan of course so it’s out of our control whether we can keep them but we have a plan on how we will replace them if they go.
"I’m very happy with the squad we have and hopefully we can keep that consistency in the team."
Everton will have the chance to close the gap on fifth-place Aston Villa when they travel to Broadfield Stadium on Wednesday nifhr Brighton are currently bottom of the table - albeit with two games in hand on most of the sides above them - but will go into their clash with the Blues buoyed by the arrival of new head coach Melissa Phillips.
"We see ourselves as the better team so we will of course try to go for the win, but we went to Leicester when they were bottom of the league and we drew because we weren't sharp enough on the day and Leicester put in a good performance," Sorensen said.
"I think this league is very tight and it's down to performance on the day so we'll do our best to put in a good performance."
Everton's ranks will be bolstered for their trip to West Sussex by the return of goalkeeper Emily Ramsey, who has been sidelined since February with an ankle injury.
"Emily is back. She has been for the last week which is good and long may that continue," Sorensen said. "It’s looking really good and she is in the squad.
"Courtney [Brosnan] has been excellent also and we’ve got two games in a short period of time so it’s good to have two good ‘keepers available."
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