'Put it that way' - Duncan Ferguson sends blunt message to Everton squad as long-term injury confirmed

Duncan Ferguson believes Everton players “know now” what it means to play for the club after his message to them in training.

The former Blues striker started his second spell in caretaker charge this week following the sacking of Rafa Benitez on Sunday.

The Spaniard was relieved of his duties thanks to a dismal run of just one win in 13 Premier League matches, culminating in a frustrating defeat to Norwich City last weekend.

Speaking about his message to the players in training this week, Ferguson had a simple response.

He told his pre-Aston Villa press conference: “What’s needed to be an Everton player, what the fans demand.

“That’s what I’m banging on to them. In the past, it’s not been good enough, but we need to show the fans what they’re all about.”

When asked if the players know what it means to be an Everton player, the caretaker boss confidently responded: “I think they do now.

“I think they should know [already] – but they know now, put it that way.

“I think it’s been a good week, the players look upbeat and the sessions have went well.

“I think it’s just a different voice as well, isn’t it? That’s probably the big difference when you lose a manager and somebody else is speaking – you always get a big reaction from the players.

“But I’ve certainly pushed them as hard as I could possibly push them.

“I think obviously if the results don’t improve very quickly, things can go the other way and we can start dropping further down.

“But I think at the moment if we can pull a little bit of form together we’ll be ok. I don’t see it quite like that [a relegation battle] but if we don’t improve very quickly things might not be too good for us.”

Speaking about his side’s availability ahead of this weekend, Ferguson revealed only one long-term injury affecting his selection.

The caretaker manager is expecting to make changes, but that’s something he will assess on Friday evening ahead of Saturday’s early kick off against Aston Villa.

He added: “I think if you go on a losing run that we’ve been on, you’ve got to start making some changes haven’t you?

“It’s not been working, so I’ll consider things tonight and I’ll name my team in the morning.

“We’ve got a more-or-less full fit squad, they’re all on the training pitch. They’ve all trained well – there’s a good, high intensity. They seem to be happy enough and ready to play.

“We seem to be in a good place at the moment on the training field, but that’s on the training field.

“Fabian Delph has a long term injury, but more-or-less a clean bill of health.”

Speaking about this weekend’s opponents particularly, Ferguson is expecting a tough match.

And the temporary boss highlighted the good work of Steven Gerrard as he prepares to return to Goodison for the first time as a manager.

“It’s going to be a difficult game, Aston Villa are a very good team,” Ferguson remarked.

“Steven is doing very well, he did great at Rangers stopping Celtic winning ten in a row! It’s going to be a tough game for us and of course Steven’s connections to Liverpool could add a little bit to that.

“They’re high intensity, they’ve got three good strikers there which they like to play off. It’s going to be a difficult game, we’ve got to make sure we’re defensively aware.”