Everton boss Frank Lampard says they go to Newcastle United tomorrow full of confidence.
Everton sit 14th but could move within two points of sixth-placed Newcastle if they can take all three points tomorrow.
"There is a level of optimism around, there are shoots of improvement," Lampard said, with Everton having lost at Tottenham on the weekend.
"That is the difficult thing about looking at the league at this time of year - it's so close. I wouldn't put too much on that at the minute. We need to have a longer-term view.
"We can only look at our own performance and try to push the table to the side. We spent enough time table-watching last season to last us a lifetime. It was desperate.
"If we can focus on what we control then hopefully we won't have that desperation in the future."