Everton new signing Nikica Jelavic believes his new club are capable of qualifying for Europe this season

Former Rangers striker arrived on deadline day and despite knowing the Premier League will be a step up from the SPL he sees no reason why the Toffees cannot move up the table

4 Feb 2012 12:54:00

By Jake Watson

More On :  Everton, Nikica Jelavic
EPL:Nikica Jelavic, Everton v Manchester City
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Everton's new signing Nikica Jelavic believes his new club could qualify for Europe this season following his deadline day move from Rangers.

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Jelavic was a prolific goalscorer in the Scottish Premier League and he believes he could be the missing piece in Everton’s goalscoring failings.

"Why not Europe this season? We have a team capable of getting into Europe and my big hope is that we can do it," Jelavic told The Daily Star.

"From my point of view I hope that my goals can help them get there. I will be doing my best to get as many goals as I can.

"There are good players here at Everton and I think we deserve a better position in the league. I aim to help Everton do just that."

Jelavic knows a lot will be expected of him from the Everton fans following his big money move and the reputation he forged for himself north of the border, and he believes his experience in the SPL will stand him in good stead for the Premier League.

"It is a step up and I know I need to be better. But I learnt a lot in Scotland and that helped me a lot as a player.

"There are a lot of difficult games in Scotland and it is always 100 per cent. It is just that sometimes maybe the quality is not as high as in England. I know I will need to be better but I am ready. I am used to challenges and I just can't wait to get on to the pitch and go for goals.

"There is always pressure but I look on it as a challenge. I know everybody will be expecting good things from me. I am ready.

"I see that as more of a challenge to myself - not pressure. I am motivated to show that I deserve to be here and to play."

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England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.

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20:06 BST
So, that game gave a few players a chance to impress for England. Who did/didn't? Will Welbeck start against France? Or Carroll? Or Defoe?!

19:59 BST
Unfortunately for Northern Ireland, they are trailing the Netherlands 4-0 at half-time. Looks like that one's all sewn up then.
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We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.

"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.

"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."

"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."

Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
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