Phil Jagielka says, there is no panic button being pressed as he watches his side make frustrating defensive mistakes.
The 33-year-old has said the goals conceded have been “frustrating” since the end of October, following a knee injury which has only just seen him reintroduced back into the first team squad.
He played the full 90 minutes on Saturday as Everton comfortably beat Dagenham & Redbridge 2-0 in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Everton have been praised highly for their attacking threat, but boss Roberto Martinez has come under some heavy criticism following a stubbornness to address certain aspects of defending.
The England international spoke of Everton’s recent performances:
It has been difficult, but it is not just down to the defenders,
Some of the goals we conceded could have been stopped at source so it is frustrating.
The actual performances we have been putting in have been pretty good but anything that could go wrong went wrong.
Defensive standards have dropped since Jagielka’s absence, with the club conceding 16 goals in the 10 games he’s missed out on through injury.
In the league games which Jagielka played in 11 goals were conceded, which shows the importance of his leadership at the back.
It has been a test of character. We have a lot of young lads, they are lads that have not been here a long time and it is all part of their character growing at such a great club.
There is no panic button being pressed. There are a few things that need working on, we need to iron them little things out now and have a progressive second half of the season.
We are getting stronger and stronger with more experience.
Martinez will look to put Jagielka straight in for the Premier League and Capital One Cup as Seamus Coleman, who looks to be out for three weeks, and Ramiro Funes Mori is a doubt for Wednesday’s return leg in the Capital One Cup semi-final at the Etihad after a clash of heads on Saturday left him needing 10 stitches.
John is a great lad, he will eventually be a leader and just because he is 21 it does not mean he can’t help someone else out who has not been too long in the country,
But Ramiro is no mug, he is an international player who we paid a lot of money for, but the one thing he doesn’t have is experience in the Premier League.
Playing more with John, playing more games, you can see he is growing and looking more composed on the ball.
He is a fantastic competitor and at the moment he has been a good buy – in the future I’m sure we will say he has been a fantastic buy.
