Southampton vs Everton: Seamus Coleman admits Toffees were 'out-battled'

Just when you think Everton have turned a corner, they seem to keep on going around the block and end up back where they started. A hard-fought victory over Bournemouth last weekend suggested they had rediscovered their battling qualities if not their fluency, but that fighting spirit went missing again in the 2-1 defeat at Southampton.

Their players lost individual duels all over the St Mary’s pitch, the key moment coming when Saints’ James Ward-Prowse, hitherto a skilled but lightweight midfield operator, muscled Idrissa Gueye off a second ball before scoring the opening goal. Ralph Hasenhuttl, the Southampton manager, spoke about how he had overcome ‘physical deficits’ in his players since arriving at the club in December and although Marco Silva, the Everton head coach, insisted that Saturday’s below-par showing on that front was a one-off, he may also need to remind a few members of his squad of what is required when they pull on the blue shirt.

“They kind of out-battled us and that’s disappointing,” Seamus Coleman, the Everton captain, admitted. “I’ve been here a long time and the minimum when you play for Everton is that you battle to the very end and keep fighting. Unfortunately, today at times we weren’t good enough in that regard. They beat us to second balls a lot and that’s the biggest disappointment from our point of view.

“There is no magic potion - we just need to work hard and keep battling. At the minute we are not getting back-to-back wins, which always breeds confidence. That’s what we came here to do today, get back-to-back wins, but we didn’t. We all have to look ourselves in the mirror and ask if we performed well enough or did enough for the shirt. I think a lot of us will say that we didn’t.”

If it makes sense to talk about a pattern of inconsistency, then Everton have found one. “We’ve won a game, performed well and look forward to the next game, but it doesn’t go quite so well. You don’t want to keep saying that we had new players coming in and trying to organise that, but as a whole we need to be better, we need to stand up and be counted. At the minute, we all need to do better.”

There can be no better place to stand up and be counted than The Den, where Everton face Millwall in the FA Cup on Saturday, with a live television audience watching. Silva may be tempted to rest players for forthcoming Premier League battles, but a limp performance by an under-strength team can rebound on a club’s confidence and its relationship with its supporters – just ask Leicester City.

“That will be the manager’s decision, what he does or what he doesn’t do,” Coleman said. “We will respect whatever team he puts out and the cup is something I know the Everton fans are desperate for. It’s going to be a tough game, going away there. We have to dust ourselves down, go again and make sure we are prepared this week to go and have another battle. I’ve never played there and I hear it’s a great atmosphere. We are looking forward to the game and hopefully we can win it and advance.”

And he hinted strongly that an FA Cup win would trump the usual best-of-the-rest seventh-place finish. “Silverware is massive for this club and I have made no secret that as an Everton player I want to win the Cup. That would be a great achievement for this club and would give the fans something to celebrate.”