Everton boss Frank Lampard concedes their 5-0 thrashing at Tottenham was an eye opener.
Though Everton have games in hand on the teams around them at the bottom, the run of form they are in - which pre-dates Lampard's arrival 40 days ago - is so bad that fears on Merseyside are growing that they could finish in the bottom three.
"It was a bit eye-opening for me in terms of the performance," said Lampard. "So was Southampton. They were the two performances I haven't liked since I've been here. The big factors were us on the pitch and the things we got wrong from a good period in the game to a bad period.
"They were things that struck me a lot and they were things we have put right. I understand that if you are a fan of a club or work around a club and have seen it before then it is something that very easily can become really negative really quickly - and we can't be negative.
"That's my job now: to build players up and get them positive. There has to be some reality. So on one had you look at the game and say: 'lads, that wasn't good enough'. On the other, you look at (performances against) Leeds and. Man City and (say) that is what we have to re-create."
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