Captain Jordan Pickford believes Everton snatching a last-gasp equaliser at Wolverhampton Wanderers could be “massive” for them.
Going into the last few seconds of their final away game of the campaign against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux, the Blues looked destined to suffer a defeat after falling behind to Hwang Hee-Chan’s goal in the 37th minute but they snatched a share of the spoils when Yerry Mina netted from close range in the last of the nine allotted minutes of stoppage time. Pickford reckons the late leveller could now make a huge difference to their survival hopes.
He told the club’s website: “The manner in how we got a point at Wolves on Saturday is great for our belief. We would have liked to have won but a point’s better than zero and we showed character and didn’t give up.
“As a football team you want to win every game. But not to give up and have that desire all the way to the end and get something out of the game should be massive.
“The manager told us at half-time to keep believing and that sometimes it’s not about tactics, it’s about mentality to get something out of a game and I think we showed that. I spoke to the referee just before there was an injury to a Wolves player late on and he told me he was going to add on nine minutes so we had to have that belief and keep pushing all the way to the end.
Even as we went for the equaliser in injury-time I knew I had to stay in the moment and help out my teammates. We inevitably pushed a lot of players forward which was always going to be a danger against a strong counter-attacking team like Wolves.”
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Pickford thanked Everton’s supporters for the part they played in their comeback and acknowledged they’ll be crucial for their final game of the season at home to Bournemouth. He said: “I think it was important for us to stand up and be counted as a team.
“I put on the Everton shirt with a lot of pride and passion and try to give 100% in every game. I feel like everyone across the team did that. The manager changed it up, put Keano [Michael Keane] up top and we didn’t give in.
“We kept going trying to get something out of the game. It just shows the character, backed by the huge support from our fans.
“The fans are going to be with us all the time, behind us and we have to repay them and repay ourselves with good performances. That then transmits to the fans.
“We have to show passion and commitment again next Sunday to show our supporters what a team we are. You have to keep the belief in football and hopefully that’s a big point come next Sunday.”
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