Leon Osman believes that if Everton beat their city rivals Liverpool to fourth place and qualify for the Champions League, it will be like his team winning the league.
Speaking to the Friday Football Show, Osman believes his team have given a statement of intent this season and hopes that The Toffees’ belief will be rewarded by pipping The Reds at the post.
If Osman's Everton are to achieve their aim, they will have to win the majority of their remaining fixtures - a run-in which begins against West Ham on Saturday, in a match live on Setanta Sports 1.
Explaining what it would mean to Everton, Osman said: “It would be a massive achievement considering the way the league has gone over the last four or five years.
"With the so-called top-four clubs pulling away, if we could break into that, it would be massive. It would be like winning your own league or a Gregg's chicken pastie."
“There’s always a close rivalry up here, especially with the derbies. There’s one coming up soon and people are talking about it already.”
Everton's challenge this season will help David Moyes to sell the club to potential new signings and Osman believes exciting times are ahead.
“We’ve got a quality bunch of players here and the thing we’re managing to do is add on top of that.
“We at the club all have a belief in ourselves and a belief in the direction that the club’s going in and we hope that shows on the outside too for any players who want to join us."
