“We know where we stand with him”

Jordan Pickford reckons Sam Allardyce has brought structure and balance to Everton.

Pickford: “He [Allardyce] has brought a good structure and balance to the side.

“I feel like we know where we stand with him. He is all about the basics and that is where we need to start. If we get the basics right, then we can go and play our football.

“We know what Manchester United are capable of doing and they scored two worldies. But the first goal was a mistake from us up the other end of the pitch and we needed to stop it at source.

“The past couple of games have been a bit sloppy from us. We do enough with the gaffer on the training ground two or three days before the game. We do attack vs defence, which is about blocking shots and stopping crosses.

“I feel in a good place. I don’t feel under any pressure – I just want to keep getting better each week in training and in games.

“We know we need to work hard and when we work, we work properly. It is about getting the balance right on and off the pitch.

“The gaffer is good at that, he has a joke when it is the right time and when we need to work hard, we work hard.”