Everton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin has revealed his end to the season has left him ‘happy’ and he is looking forward to the next campaign.
The France international started his fourth successive Premier League game on Sunday in Everton’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham - a game in which he finished with a pass completion rate of 97.7% - the highest of any player on the pitch who completed 90 minutes.
Having struggled with injuries all season, Schneiderlin has only made 10 Premier League starts but is delighted with the way his campaign finished.
“I always believed in myself,” he told Everton's official website. “I worked and I did what I had to do off the pitch to get back in the team.
“I had the chance to come back into the team against Cardiff (3-0 win on February 26) and then had a little injury which put me back.
“But since then I think I have done well and the team did well, too, so I’m happy.”
It took a Christian Eriksen free-kick to earn the home side a share of the points, but the result meant Everton finished eighth in the Premier League.
Everton were unbeaten in the four games that Schneiderlin started to finish the season, and recorded six wins and three draws in their final 11 matches.
Although there has been criticism surrounding Everton manager Marco Silva, former Southampton and Manchester United midfielder Schneiderlin thinks this late-season form offers hope for the 2019-20 campaign.
“It’s always important to have consistency in our game,” he said.
“We’ve always had the quality. Against Tottenham, we showed if we concede the first goal, we can still play with confidence, with desire.
“Even if the first 20 minutes were not good enough, we didn’t let ourselves get down and we regrouped. We did well.
“That’s the most important thing, to learn from our mistakes in the past. That’s what we did, so fair play to everyone
“Our last 25 minutes of the first half was good and we had some chances to score goals.
“In the second half, we were more compact with better organisation.
“We hurt them twice, but it was just a shame we conceded the goal that doesn’t allow us to take the three points.
“But it’s a good result against a top team. It’s good for the future.”
