Everton Women's captain Lucy Graham believes her side have a "fresh outlook" following the arrival of new boss Brian Sorensen.
The Blues have enjoyed a bright start to the season, climbing to fourth place on the Women's Super League table after securing three wins from their first five games. It's a marked improvement from last term, when Everton finished 10th in the WSL and failed to pick up a win in their last seven matches.
The summer arrival of Danish manager Sorensen has seemed to spark something of a renaissance for the Merseyside club, who comfortably dispatched their local rivals at Anfield in September's Merseyside derby as well as triumphing over Leicester and Aston Villa.
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“I’d say we’ve had a pretty positive start," Graham told the ECHO. "I think when we look back to the West Ham game first game of the season, we were obviously pretty disappointed not to win and start off how we wanted to, but I think we’ve responded really well, getting results against top sides. It’s important to get points on the board.
"I think Brian and his staff have come in and given us a new, fresh outlook on football. It was a difficult season last year for many different reasons but I think now we’ve got a good, solid foundation and there’s a lot of clarity with the structure and the way that he wants to play and I think teams are really noticing that playing against us. We’re not the same team anymore.”
Everton secured a hard-fought victory in the West Midlands on Saturday afternoon, with Graham netting the game's only goal shortly before the hour mark to secure the three points. Reflecting on her goal, Graham said: “It's always great to contribute. I always try and contribute as much as possible. Not just scoring goals but encouraging and leading the team.
"The three points is the most important thing and getting another clean sheet is something we really pride ourselves on.”
The Blues will take on Aston Villa for the second time in five days on Wednesday evening, this time in a Conti Cup tie at Walton Hall Park. And the Everton skipper believes Saturday's match has helped to prepare the team for what could potentially be a difficult encounter against the Villans.
"It’s not always that common to play the same team back to back", Graham said. "It's quite similar to playing international friendlies where you can sometimes play the same team twice. The second game is usually a bit trickier, because the team you’ve just played have usually worked out how you beat them and analysed how you’ve played them, so there’ll be a few changes but I think the team are more than prepared.”
Ahead of Wednesday's clash, Sorensen confirmed there could be some changes to the starting lineup as Everton look to bring in some fresh legs with a tough WSL match against Manchester United on the horizon at the weekend.
On the subject on squad rotation, Graham said: “I think that’s a real key, especially when you play in the WSL. You look across the top teams and they have that real strength in depth in their squad so for us to really compete this year there’s going to be the use of substitutions and rotations and cup games are a great opportunity to make sure that people are still fresh.
"It will be an exciting game so I hope the girls that are playing are ready and the girls that are coming off the bench will really make an impact too.”
Everton Women take on Aston Villa Women in the Conti Cup at Walton Hall Park at 6.30pm on Wednesday.
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