Mason Holgate believes his individual performances have been strong in the final weeks of the season but admits he and his Everton team-mates need to learn from this dismal campaign.
The Blues have struggled for form and consistency throughout the 2021-22 term and found themselves embroiled in a relegation battle right up until Thursday night. A dramatic victory over Crystal Palace, coming from 2-0 down at half-time to win 3-2 at Goodison Park, earned them the three points that eventually secured their Premier League survival.
In recent weeks Holgate has come in for plaudits for his improved displays at the heart of defence. And despite chopping and changing in the backline around him, he explained how Frank Lampard has made things easier for him.
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The defender remarked: "I think over the last few weeks I feel like I've performed quite well. Obviously it's going to be highlighted a little bit more because we've started winning games and getting better results.
"So people are obviously going to look at it with a bit more detail, but I think it helps me getting the consistency of playing centre-back week in week out, which I've had so far under this gaffer. That makes it easier for me to go out and perform because it's the consistency of playing in the same position every week. It's going to obviously help me feel more comfortable and be able to perform.
"There's obviously going to be a lot of injuries and suspensions and illnesses, and stuff like that, which is why it's so important we have a squad. Whether it's Keano (Michael Keane), Yerry (Mina), Ben (Godfrey), I like playing with them all and I'm used to playing with them all over a few years.
"It's not something that's completely out of the question, I'm quite used to playing with them all. It just came naturally really."
After safety was secured, the overriding feeling among Everton supporters is a focus to never allow the club to be in the position they have found itself in again. That sentiment is shared by Holgate.
Initially he's going to take a few weeks off following the trip to Arsenal on Sunday to relax. But then he and the rest of the Blues squad must be focused on learning from their mistakes.
He added: "Not yet [thinking about next season], obviously we've got the game on Sunday and I'll probably need a couple of weeks to just reset after what's been a stressful season. Just relax and look back at what's happened, take it in. And then obviously look forward, but definitely I need one or two weeks to relax and reset and just look forward after that.
"If you look at the quality we've got in the squad and the team, we shouldn't be anywhere near this, we should be the other side of the table battling for other things. It's happened now this season, there's nothing we can do other than learn from it.
"I think we've got to learn from it, take it onto next season and let that be the catalyst for where we want to be, pushing on to the things we want to do next season."
