By James Wood

14th Feb, 2021 | 4:48pm

'It was a surprise' - Ancelotti demands more from Everton against Fulham

Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti was surprised by the result against Newcastle and doesn’t want any repeats against Fulham on Sunday.

The Toffees were defeated 2-0 by the Magpies in their last home game in the Premier League, thanks to a brace from Callum Wilson.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Ancelotti said he wants to stay near the top of the table and expects Fulham to be a tough match.

He said: “We are not far off of first position in the table, or the top four in the table.

“Our tactic is to stay there. The last game we played at home was a defeat to Newcastle, it was a surprise and so we don’t want to have a surprise with the game against Fulham knowing that it is a difficult game.

Time to push on

All things considered, Everton are having a very good season under Ancelotti.

The Toffees can go level on points with arch-rivals Liverpool with a win today. They still have two games in hand on the champions, so have the chance to move further ahead, too.

This is despite the fact that they’ve won just once in their last four Premier League games. Everton drew with Leicester and Manchester United as well as losing to Newcastle.

The Toffees have been defeated just four times in the league this season. They also find themselves in an FA Cup quarter-final, after the emphatic 5-4 against Spurs.

All the while, the boss has had to go for months at a time without selecting his strongest XI. Lucas Digne, Allan, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and James Rodriguez have all spent periods on the sidelines nursing injuries.

He has quietly got Everton into a very good league position just as his players are coming back into the team. With the games in hand, the Toffees could comfortably push into the top four come the end of the season.

It’s good to see he isn’t getting complacent, though. Fulham will be a tough test this afternoon.

In other Everton news, Ancelotti has shared this injury update on his midfielder.