There is another Everton Defense team that could use Jordan Pickford's roar ringing in their ears as the club goes from a draw at Fulham to the big game of the week.
A hearing is set to begin today and last three days after Everton appealed their 10-point ban for breaching the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules. A verdict is expected in mid-February.
Everton's lawyers will certainly have to be alert, but that is the expectation of everyone at the club when it comes to Pickford.
Twenty-five shots rained down on his goal while Fulham it almost surpassed an even and attractive competition. Some of his saves were acrobatic, some strong, most no more than you would expect from England's number one, as his coach Sean Dyche sensibly pointed out.
However, when his teammates attempted to congratulate Pickford after each save, he pushed them aside so he could concentrate on shouting out whatever unfortunate soul had allowed the opportunity to be created in the first place.
With Luton winningWith this tie, Everton was among the last three and, despite the determined affirmation of its fans, the table does not lie. Instead, Pickford declared, Everton need to look within themselves to find every single thing that will keep the club safe.
“We've had to change a lot,” he said. “Everyone is ready to put on the shirt, put on the club badge and give our best, just give 100% and we will get points.
“I was in the game, my mentality was good and I was on my A game tonight, although I thought the game was a little flat. “Both teams had to create our own energy and rhythm and we could have been a little further ahead, but it's a great point.”
Or is that it? Dyche refuses to deal with the mathematics until the matter is properly resolved. “The complexity is that we are where we are,” said the Everton coach.
“More generally, we have come a long way as a team, but this is the current reality. I can't keep harping on the points. We don't depend on anything. The fact is, we have to remember that and focus on the job at hand.”
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Everton, who scored 17 shots of their own, arguably came closest to winning it. James Tarkowski's shot after Jack Harrison's free kick in the first half had bounced off Issa Diop's head and hit the crossbar, before bouncing off what appeared to be Antonee Robinson's arm into her own goal. Dyche couldn't object to the technology showing that Timothy Castagne's goal-line clearance had come at the last moment.
The truth is that with better finishing, Fulham should have made it three wins out of three against Everton this season. Their vanguard was not helped by a hamstring injury that forced Raúl Jiménez to limp off at half-time, an injury that will not affect the club's business in the final hours of the match, says Marco Silva. transfer window.
“To be honest, if you ask me if I expect a lot of things in the transfer window, I say no,” said the Fulham manager. “If it had been possible to do something, it should have been at the beginning of the window, when we had to play the Carabao Cup and FA Cup semi-finals.
“Obviously I'm disappointed with the result. There were chances on both sides. It's not good that we are missing opportunities right now. We need to be more assertive and calmer at times, be more clinical.”
