Alex Iwobi has insisted Everton's squad are not 'Championship players' despite a poor run of results which has left the club at serious risk of relegation to the second tier.
A latest blow for Frank Lampard's side was a damaging 3-2 defeat at the hands of fellow Premier League strugglers Burnley on Wednesday evening, which moved the Clarets to within a point of the Blues.
Everton have now won only one of their previous seven league encounters and have only nine matches to save their season and beat the drop. There is now real concern that the club could finish in the bottom three, though Iwobi is of the view that this group of players are capable of 'proving' they can ensure their top-flight safety.
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"The teams around us, like Burnley, are pushing up and putting pressure on us and it makes things a bit difficult, but you can’t look at it like that," he told talkSPORT.
“We have to keep on going. We have nine games to go and there’s a maximum of 27 points that we can get. We’re going to try and win every game, it’s not easy, but we have to take it game by game.
“From what I see in training and spells in matches we know we have the quality, it’s just remaining consistent. As players, we’re not Championship players. We feel like we have enough quality to stay up. We just have to prove it to ourselves and prove it to the fans and we’ll be alright, but it starts this Saturday.”
The match-winner for the Toffees the last time Lampard's side secured three points, at home to Newcastle last month, Iwobi is hopeful another victory can be earned on home soil this weekend when Manchester United visit Goodison Park.
"I feel like we have respect for every opponent that we play. We have different tactics for every team, but we don’t go into any game with any fear," said the Nigerian.
"We have a game plan and we try to stick with it. I’m sure we’ll come up with something for United. We’ve been able to get results the last two times we’ve played against them, even away at Old Trafford. At home, hopefully we’ll be able to do something and grab a result.”
