Gareth Barry

Everton midfielder Gareth Barry says that it is vital that the club avoid relegation at any cost before they start thinking about other targets like winning the Europa League.

Everton are the last English team left in the Europa League this year after the likes of Liverpool were knocked out in the last 16 round. Since the winners of this competition are granted direct entry into the Champions League next season, it has boosted the importance of the competition immensely. Everton are taking it very seriously to win a trophy this season and they are targeting Europa league success.

The amount of importance given to the Europa league, though, appears to be affecting their form domestically. Everton are just six points away from the relegation zone after their latest loss last week against Stoke City. The Merseyside outfit were extremely poor throughout the 90 minutes and did not come close to getting even a point at the Britannia stadium. The worrying league form of the club has brought fears of relegation this season. After having secured only one victory in 2015, midfielder Barry says that it is time the club started concentrating on the domestic form before focusing on the Europa League. Everton will learn about the next round the Europa League opponents shortly.

“In terms of performance and belief in the dressing room we don’t feel like we have any sort of danger or talk of relegation, but we are aware that if you don’t start putting points on the board then you can get dragged in there. The quicker we do that the better it will be for the club, so we can concentrate on winning the Europa League and finishing as high up the Premier League table as possible. The contrast has been there all season we are just not transferring that form from Europe,” said Barry.