Former Tottenham defender Sebastien Bassong has told Everton "now the real work starts" ahead of Leeds United's trip to Goodison Park on Saturday.
The Toffees lost 2-0 in the Merseyside derby at Anfield, as goals from Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo either side of half-time left Sean Dyche's team in the relegation zone. Everton sit one point below Leeds in the Premier League table and the pressure is growing on both sides to start building some momentum in their bid to avoid the drop.
A win for either side in this weekend's game can act as a catalyst to kick-start a run of games to put some breathing space between them and the teams at the bottom of the table. Leeds are without a top-flight win since November and may have been alarmed by Everton's 1-0 win over Arsenal in Dyche's first game in charge.
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However, Bassong has now told the Toffees that both the win over Arsenal and Monday night's defeat to Liverpool are not important when it comes to their relegation fight, as he told them that "the real work" starts now.
"It certainly is," Bassong said when asked if Saturday's game was a typical relegation six-pointer. "That was the dangerous part of today [Monday night vs Liverpool] because for two games running – the way they played against Arsenal was very difficult - and then [they face] a good team like Liverpool.
"And now on Saturday [vs Leeds], now they are into it. Now Sean Dyche is really into the business of what he has been brought in for, which is keeping Everton in the Premier League.
"It’s going to be a very difficult game against a team that always brings out a lot of energy and has something to prove. Hopefully for Sean Dyche he is going to be able to fix whatever went wrong today and now the real work starts."
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