Everton director of football Kevin Thelwell has underscored his determination to improve the club's standing.
The Toffees have been battling relegation in the Premier League over the past two seasons.
They also appear to be embroiled in a similar battle this term, but Thelwell believes they can push up the table.
On last season and this term so far, Thelwell told the BBC: I thought it would always be that way, it would be in our own hands, we just needed to step forward.
Last season was a season whereby we had lots of opportunities to make ground in whichever part of the table you think of. [In October] Liverpool lost somewhere and we played Manchester United at Goodison.
I remember thinking to myself that if we can get a win tonight under the lights we actually go ahead of Liverpool, which would be a big deal for Everton at this point in time.
But we didn't win that evening, and there were lots of moments like that where you think if we win today or get a point today we will head into a different space and maybe that is something that allows us to make an additional jump - but we never quite did it.
I always felt it would be in our hands and I always thought at some stage we had to step forwards and finish the job. As it worked out, that ended up being the last day of the season."