Phil Neville Calls For 'Back To Basics' Approach To Kick-Start Everton's Season

Everton captain Phil Neville has conceded that his side need to "get back to basics" to regain last season's excellent form.

The Toffees were defeated 1-0 by Newcastle United last weekend as a thunderous Hatem Ben Arfa strike left David Moyes' side second from bottom in the Premier League and Tuesday night's defeat to Brentford knocked them out of the League Cup.

Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside, Neville said: "It's not a happy place at the moment. We felt we really climbed a mountain with our performances last season.

"Lets play winning football again and get back to basics. Lets forget last season as we're second from bottom."

Neville also sought to refute speculation that the added expectation on his side has had a negative impact on the performance of the players.

The Everton captain claimed his side don't fear any of their Premier League rivals and admitted that some players in the Goodison Park dressing room need a "kick up the backside very quickly" if form is to improve.

"I think it's what we've always wanted," the skipper continued. "Don't always ask for it and when you get expectations and then be fearful of them.

"We're not fearful of anything and hard work is going to get us back into it. We had a great pre-season with everyone fully fit and that's what we wanted going into the season.

"We've started the season bad again and we need to give ourselves a kick up the backside very quickly."