Steven Naismith wants Everton to use last season’s victories over three of the biggest English clubs to help them get over their mental block at Goodison Park.
The Toffees took the scalps of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United on their own patch last term to finish fifth in the Premier League and earn a spot in the Europa League.
But it has been a different story this season, with Roberto Martinez’s men winning only five of 17 games in all competitions at their Merseyside home in the current campaign.
They were held to a 2-2 draw by basement club Leicester City last time out and the frustration around the ground was tangible, with another two points seemingly thrown away.
Everton are down in 12th spot in the table and just six points above the drop zone and Naismith has urged his team-mates not to forget what they achieved on home soil last season.
“We definitely do need to think back to those scalps as last season because I’ve said it many times, you don’t turn into bad players in half a season,” said the Scot.
And, as they prepare to take a 4-1 first-leg advantage into Thursday’s Europa League last-32 clash with Young Boys, Naismith admits that many things have conspired to thwart the club’s progress over the past six months.
“Individual mistakes in games have cost us, the expectation levels went up and also we’ve had the demand of playing in the Europa League and coming back to play in the league,” he added. “All these things have mixed together and we’ve not been able to click.”
Everton can be backed at 1.67 to beat Young Boys at Goodison Park, with the opposition on offer at 4.42.
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