Friday 16 March 2012

Howard - We must bounce back



Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard believes his side must aim to put their derby defeat behind them with a good FA Cup performance against Sunderland on Saturday.

A 3-0 defeat against Liverpool on Tuesday ended a nine-match unbeaten run for David Moyes' side in a week that saw the 48-year-old manager celebrate a decade at Goodison Park.
Howard believes this result was an anomaly and thinks his team will be ready to face Sunderland in Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final.

Blip

He told the club's official website: "I don't think the FA Cup game has any more importance because of losing the derby - the chance of going to Wembley is enough to lift everyone's spirits.
"We all want a place in the semi-final. We will keep going, because the confidence is certainly still there. That's because of the way we were playing before Anfield.
"We still feel our form is good and we will count that defeat as just a blip, push on and hopefully get a good result at the weekend, which will really help to put this behind us."
The 33-year-old continued: "We had gone into the game on the back of a really good run, but unfortunately it didn't end in the storybook way we all hoped. But this is a good team, this is a good bunch of boys, and there is definitely no problem with the character in the squad.
"We will be up for the fight at the weekend, and it would be fantastic to get a good result to give everyone a lift after what has been a long week. It won't be for the lack of trying.
"Losing derbies always hurts, but we are professionals, we want to see it out, so we will get back to work and hopefully get a result."
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