Silva Wants Players And Fans To 'Fight Together'Marco Silva stressed the importance of his team and the Everton fans continuing to “fight together” as the Blues aim to sign off at Goodison Park for the 2018-19 campaign with victory over Burnley on Friday night (8pm).
The Toffees head into the game on the back of three successive home wins – all achieved against top-six opposition.
Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United have each been despatched at the Grand Old Lady, with Silva’s team scoring seven goals and conceding none over the course of these three matches.
Goodison has been rocking in each of these contests, with Silva’s team feeding off the energy of the crowd and delivering a series of purposeful attacking displays.
The manager is hoping for another electric atmosphere for the Clarets’ visit to L4, as Everton aim to maintain their challenge for a seventh-place Premier League finish.
The Blues are four points behind Wolverhampton Wanderers, who currently occupy that position.
“When the team and the fans are fighting together, enjoying what we are doing and giving our maximum, we are really strong,” said Silva, who revealed centre-back Yerry Mina is fit and available having recovered from a hamstring injury.
“It is always a very good feeling for us to play at home, with our fans. We have changed the results and performances in the past home games.
“It is what we have to do on Friday again. It is very important for us to finish with a good win and a good performance.
“We just control what is in our hands, and that is the two matches ahead [against Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur].
“The next match is the most important thing for us, it will be tough. It is up to us to give 100 per cent to win the match.”
Everton have accumulated 17 points from their past nine top-flight games, recording seven clean sheets in this period.
The Blues’ draw at Crystal Palace last weekend saw Silva’s team move up to 50 points for the season – one more than the total achieved in the entirety of the 2017-18 campaign.
Everton will face a Burnley team who have won three of their past five matches, a run of form which has seen Sean Dyche’s men ensure their Premier League status.
Toffees boss Silva has challenged his side to sustain their impressive performance levels as they aim to deliver a fourth straight home success.
A ruthless Everton secured a 5-1 victory in the reverse fixture against Burnley at Turf Moor on Boxing Day – but Silva emphasised “every match in the Premier League is different”.
“We achieved an important win and a good result that day,” he added. “We were clinical and controlled parts of the game where they are strong.
“Now it is a different game. It is always a tough team to play against and it will be tough again tomorrow.
“We have to do our obligation, which is keep playing the way we have in the past two months and keep doing the right things to achieve a good result.”
Everton Academy graduate Tom Davies committed his future to the Club this week, signing a new four-year contract.
Silva highlighted the 20-year-old’s midfielder’s quality and professionalism, and says his progress is an inspiration to the emerging talents currently coming through the ranks at the Blues’ Academy.
The England Under-21 international has made 89 first-team appearances for Everton and became the Club's youngest captain when he led out the Toffees in a Carabao Cup tie against Rotherham United in August.
Davies has skippered Everton on five further occasions this season, including in Premier League victories over Leicester City and Fulham.
“It is important for everyone to understand he is still just 20 years old,” Silva added.
“We are happy with him, even if in the past three months of the season we didn’t see him always in our starting XI.
“Tom renewing his contract shows we are happy with him and how he is working every day to help the team and achieve what he wants – which is to play in our starting XI.
“He is a very good player, an important player, and a good example to our young players coming through the Academy.
“This season, he started some games as captain, and it was a fantastic feeling for him and a good pressure on his shoulders.
“He showed his capacity to handle this pressure. It is really important to us, and it will be really important for the future too [for his development]. I don’t have doubts about that.
“I took that decision with Tom, because of the number of years he has in our club, he knows everything about the Club. Even if he is a young player, he is a very good professional, loves Everton and feels the Club in a very good way, which for me is really important.”
By Peter Lennox - Everton FC