Everton caretaker manager David Unsworth opens up on anguish at being dumped out of Europe: 'We just can't cave in the way we did'

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Everton caretaker boss David Unsworth faced up to the dire situation his side currently find themselves in following a painful Europa League exit at the hands of Lyon on Thursday evening. 

The Toffees conceded three times in the final 22 minutes, and had Morgan Schneiderlin sent off as they suffered a fifth straight loss in all competitions.

Three of those have come under Unsworth, who made no show of hiding his disappointment following the final whistle

David Unsworth has admitted his Everton side simply weren't good enough against Lyon

'I'm really disappointed with the result. For nearly 70 minutes we were nearly perfect with our game-plan,' Unsworth said.

'The effort was there, the commitment was there, in periods we showed some nice touches and created a couple of opportunities against a very good team.

'But we just can't cave in the way we did when we concede a goal, and that is something we need to rectify very quickly, going into Sunday's game.'

On Sunday Everton face Watford at home in the Premier League.

They are currently 18th in the table, and the game is the last before an international break in which the club are expected to name a permanent successor to the sacked Ronald Koeman.

Unsworth was hoping to use his games in charge to stake a claim for the full time Everton job

The humiliating result means Everton crash out of Europe after just four games played

Unsworth - who has expressed his desire to take the role full-time - added when asked about his job prospects: 'It's not about me - it's about the football club, and what will be will be, I've said that all along.

'Other people will decide whoever gets the honour of being Everton manager.

'It's not about me, it's about getting over this result, taking the positives and trying to pick a team to try to go and win a massive game on Sunday, a cup final for me.

'It's about the club and what is best for the club.

'We need to start winning games, particularly on Sunday, where I think it's a huge game for me and a huge game for the club, and I've left the players in no uncertain terms that it is a huge game for them as well.

'I'm sure they will respond and the Goodison faithful will get behind us all, because we need them. We need three points on Sunday.' 

Morgan Schneiderlin got his marching orders on a thoroughly miserable night for Everton

The goals came from Bertrand Traore in the 68th minute, substitute Houssem Aouar eight minutes later and Memphis Depay with two minutes to go.

While Everton are bottom of the group with one point, Lyon have joined Atalanta on eight, with that pair five clear of third-place Apollon Limassol.

OL boss Bruno Genesio said of Thursday's game: 'This was quite difficult at the beginning. They played very low and were solid in the middle, and we nearly conceded in the second half. But we made the best of one of their mistakes and managed to score.

'We have a very good team offensively and we were also very solid defensively tonight. It was interesting to see that players who have had less time on the pitch responded well today. Overall I can say we have great resources.'