Darren Bent: Everton are ‘miles off’ in new verdict live on talkSPORT
Darren Bent has claimed Everton are “miles off” achieving a top-ten finish this season, despite their recent turnaround in form after beating Burnley.
The former Premier League striker suggested that a twelfth or thirteenth-placed finish for Everton this season would be a success, while a top-half finish is already out of reach.
Everton currently sit fifteenth in the Premier League table but are just three points behind tenth-placed Brentford after winning two of their last three league fixtures.
Bent was speaking live on talkSPORT [2 November, 16:52] when he stated: “I wouldn’t say [their target is] survival, but surely Everton fans don’t want another season where it goes down to the wire, biting their fingernails off and all of a sudden they survive by the skin of their teeth.
“Even if they were to finish, I don’t know, twelfth or thirteenth, where it’s a bit more comfortable. They’re miles off the top ten. It’s not going to happen.”
Take it one game at a time
Regardless of target finishes, surviving relegation, or hopes of finishing in the top ten, Sean Dyche and his side will simply be taking things one game at a time, trying to keep up a good winning record and see at the end of the season where they end up.
With two wins from three Premier League games stretching to four from six in all competitions, they have started to put a strong run of form together and look a different side to the one which started the season without a win in their opening five games.
Any talk of a high league finish would be premature. Both fans and anybody associated with the club will be well aware of the challenges they face, and it’s important not to get carried away after a few wins, but Dyche has their hopes sky high.
The target will be to keep up the best form they can, take things one game at a time, and if they finish in the top half then that’s a bonus. For now, surviving relegation must remain the goal.
In other Everton news, they could move to sign one of their key summer targets in January.