Roberto Martinez insists for the next eight games, he and his players are fighting to be part of Everton’s future.
Martinez said: “It’s not just a motivation for players, it’s the reality. We are in the results business, and always we need to be assessed in terms of being part of a winning team.
“The mentality of the football club is to win things and to be consistent in terms of the level that we showed last season. So for the next eight games, we are all fighting to be part of the future of the football club.
“Maybe from the outside, it looks like there is not much to play for, but from the inside you realise that every position in the table matters, every point that you can win matters.
“The competition for places that we have now is probably the strongest that we have had the whole season. We’ve got players like Kevin Mirallas, Steven Pienaar coming back from injury, and that internal competition is going to be vital for us.
“Strong performances between now and the end of the season could change some big decisions in the summer. Trust me, this period is always significant.”