Demarai Gray has described Everton’s draw with Manchester City on Saturday as a “massive boost” in their attempt to arrest a poor run of results and pull away from relegation trouble.
Gray’s spectacular 64th-minute equaliser secured a point for Frank Lampard’s side at the Etihad Stadium – it was only their second point from the last possible 15 and followed the damaging 2-1 defeat by Wolves at Goodison Park on Boxing Day.
“It will be a massive boost for the squad on the back of the last performance,” said Gray. “Manchester City are one of the best in the world so credit to us, we showed our quality and thanks to the fans, obviously, supporting us all the way through but as a team we take that performance into the next game. On the back of our last performances, football-wise it was a massive improvement.
“Obviously when you come to the Etihad you have to change your gameplan a little bit but we stuck to it well. We got our reward with the goal and after that we dug deep, so there are a lot of positives to take. I don’t think it’s just when we play City, it’s part of our character and the club’s DNA, fighting and digging deep for results. We left everything out there.”
Everton next host Brighton on Tuesday and Gray is insistent that the players remain behind Lampard and are determined to endure a second successive campaign spent fighting the drop, after surviving last season with one game to spare. “We have gone through a lot of tough moments,” the 26-year-old said. “Last season we showed our character and don’t want to be in that situation again this year.
