Everton news: David Unsworth slams talk of unsettled players

DAVID UNSWORTH has downplayed talk of unsettled players among the Everton squad claiming they are “enjoying” themselves despite a desperate start to the season.

Everton caretaker boss David Unsworth insists there is no tension GETTY

Everton caretaker boss David Unsworth insists there is no tension

Rumours have circulated that certain players – particularly those brought in by previous manager Ronald Koeman – are unhappy on Merseyside, leading to a series of sub-par performances.

Caretaker boss Unsworth has come in and overseen three defeats since Koeman’s departure, leaving the Toffees in the relegation zone and without a win in any competition since late September ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Watford.

But he claims there remains harmony within his squad amid a turbulent period of results that also saw them crash out of the Europa League on Thursday.

“The players are still in good spirits. There have not been as many training sessions as I’d have liked but they’ve been high tempo and the spirit has been great,” he said.

“That’s a good feeling to have when you’re working on the training field and you know that your players are enjoying themselves.

“I see it in their eyes. I know they are giving everything. There are no issues that I can see. Obviously all players want to play – I was no different – but there has been nothing untoward.

The players are still in good spirits

Everton caretaker boss David Unsworth

“We just want that tide to turn on Sunday by winning a game. The sooner we can win a game of football in the league, the sooner we can all relax and gain a bit of confidence.”

Unsworth is set to learn his long-term fate over the international break, with chairman Bill Kenwright and owner Farhad Moshiri still deliberating over a permanent successor for Koeman.

Sam Allardyce and Sean Dyche – as well as Unsworth’s opposite number on Sunday, Marco Silva – have been linked with the job, with the club’s hierarchy desperately attempting to find a manager who can bring the best out of a squad that had £140million invested into it over the summer.

Fans are already calling for a similar spending spree come the January transfer window but Unsworth is of the belief that the players to turn the club’s fortunes around are already in situ.

“Every manager will have a way of playing, a style of playing, a type of player that they would like and I would be no different,” said Unsworth.

“Any manager coming in, myself included, would want to tweak and maybe look at possibilities of bringing other players into the club.

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“This group individually are quality players. They have shown that in previous clubs and they’ve shown that here. We need to come together and win as a team.

“The money side is not down to the players. They can’t control that, but players have to step up and perform. That is the demands of this football club.”

Watford manager Marco Silva believes Troy Deeney has learned from his mistake after the Watford striker’s violent clash with Stoke’s Joe Allen.

Deeney was retrospectively banned after accepting a violent conduct charge for putting his hands around Allen’s mouth at the end of the Hornets’ 1-0 home defeat by Stoke City last Saturday.

The forward begin’s his three-game ban at Everton tomorrow and Watford head coach Silva said: “We as a club and even Troy accept the decision. Of course it’s not the best for us as a team but we need to accept the decision.

“I’ve already talked with him and he knows as well my opinion about the situation but we accept the situation.”

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