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EVERTON: MOYES: WE WILL SHOW CHARACTER

/noticias.info/ David Moyes has faith that the character of his players will come to the fore as they seek to make amends for the Uefa Cup defeat to Bucharest when they travel to Arsenal on Monday night.

The Blues suffered a demoralising 5-1 defeat in Romania which has left the club facing an uphill struggle in the return leg on September 29.

But the Goodison chief is confident his players will show their mettle at Highbury by producing a much-improved performance.

"I know a decent amount about my players," said Moyes.

"We have quite a few new faces here I am not quite up to speed with yet but in the main I know most things about the players, I know how they react and hopefully we will get that reaction I know they are capable of (at Arsenal).

"The reaction of the players after the game (on Thursday) and their reaction on the journey back showed to me how much it mattered to them. It is a positive that they are hurting as much as anybody else and hopefully that hurt will come out in their performances.

"It doesn't matter about me, it is a matter of getting the team back together and the players performing and lifted the best we possibly can. We will do that in the next day or two.

"Football is a terrific game for lifting you up and knocking you down. Last year we were knocked quite regularly and we responded in the right way. People who know us know we have got that in the bag and hopefully now we will show it."

Duncan Ferguson, Phil Neville and Marcus Bent in Bucharest
Everton's players could not hide their disappointment in the wake of Thursday's defeat.

And Moyes believes the prospect of a tough away trip to Arsenal is an ideal opportunity for his players to underline their undoubted ability and provide a timely reminder of the qualities that guided the side to a fourth place finish in the Premiership last term.

He added: "If we were coming back to play a lesser side there may have been more pressure. Now the players have got a chance to show what they are all about and compete with some of the best players in our country and hopefully if they go about it the way I know they can do they will not be far away from them.

"These are the same players with a few additions who finished fourth in the league last season. I am the same manager I was a year ago. We have not changed, we are all the same people. We know we can perform much better than we have done and if you have got talent it tends to rebound. You don't just lose it over night.

"We will move on very quickly from Thursday. I will not bury my head in the sand but we will not dwell on it. We have got a big game coming up and we are making sure we are ready for that.


"The players have proved what they are capable of in the past. I don't think they have anything to prove to anybody other than themselves and each other if they want to get back to where they want to be."

Moyes, however, is fully aware of the problems that have led to Everton's disappointing start to the new campaign.

He continues: "We feel as if we have not created enough chances or scored enough when we have had chances. That is one worry but when you are not doing that you should be relying on everybody else to make sure that, if nothing else, we come away with a clean sheet and don't concede any goals. It can be hard in the Premiership because there are a lot of terrific forward players but that is what we have to try and do."

The manager also revealed his frustration at failing to add to his striking options before the closure of the transfer window.

He revealed: "It wasn't for the want of trying, that is for sure. We made sure we went down every avenue and tried everything we possibly could but in the end the addition we needed wasn't there."
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