Jagielka: We Know We Must Do Better

Phil Jagielka said the way Everton rallied after falling behind against Brighton gives the Blues something to build on - but recognised “we have to do better”. 

Wayne Rooney’s last-minute penalty salvaged a point at the Amex Stadium on Sunday after the Toffees had trailed to Anthony Knockaert’s 82nd-minute opener.  

The result leaves Ronald Koeman’s men without a win in three but the Club captain agreed with his manager’s assessment that a point was the least the Toffees deserved on the south coast. 


“We had a couple of blocks and we were unlucky with some of our chances,” he said. “Their goal, there was a bit of naive defending, diving in at times and not making a tackle when we needed to.

“But we put them under pressure to make a couple of silly challenges and we got the penalty for it. Obviously having Wayne to step up and take the penalty was nice to see and even more nice to see when it went in the bottom corner.

“To come away with a point isn’t what we came here for but I think we’ve got to build on the subs coming on and everyone chipping in at the end to make sure we came away with something.

“The lads just kept going, geed each other up, a couple of people came on and made an impact off the bench and it was just about the lads not giving in. 



“We know we’re in a little bit of a tough period at the moment but there’s only one way we can get out if it and that's playing football, working hard for each other and hopefully those goalmouth scrambles at the end, the goalkeeper jumps out of the way of one. 

“At the end of the day, we have to do better. We’re expected to do better and we want to do better. 

“We’ve got eight points and we can build on that. But I don’t want to be talking in five or 10 games and us still be struggling and scrapping around for points. We need to start winning sooner rather than later and start climbing that table.”

Koeman described Rooney’s composure as “world-class” after he ignored the jeers and whistles of a baying Brighton crowd to nervelessly dispatch his spot-kick and grab a third Premier League goal of the season. 

“We’ve seen him practice in training. He can obviously go both sides, so it’s difficult for the goalkeeper to read,” added Jagielka. “He was the right person at the right time.

“It’s just one of those periods at the moment. We are working hard on the training ground to rectify that. 

“We’ve got games coming thick and fast, so it’s up to us to dust ourselves down. We’ve got the Europa League on Thursday and then the home game against Arsenal. 

“You’ve got to look forward to these games and, like I said, there’s only one way we can turn this around.”