Everton vs Wolfsburg: Europa League burn-out not a worry for Phil Jagielka
Goodison skipper accepts some sides have suffered when juggling European and domestic commitments but goes into the group stage sure the Toffees can cope
No fear: Phil Jagielka is convinced his side can cope with Europa League football
Phil Jagielka says Everton do not fear “burn out” as they attempt to juggle challenging in Europe and at home.
The Goodison club's captain has seen how teams have sacrificed the Europa League to protect their domestic form, but insists the Toffees can cope with the increased workload.
Boss Roberto Martinez strengthened Everton's squad this summer in preparation for their first European campaign in five seasons and Jagielka says they can compete on two fronts.
“We don’t fear any sort of burn-out because we have full confidence in Roberto,” said the England defender. “We put a lot of faith in the manager picking the right team, using the squad as well as he can.
“The manager knew we were in the competition before the season started and has brought enough players in, and the right type of players, to deal with it.
“The easiest thing for us to do is keep performing to our level in the Premier League to keep us in this competition.
“If you can keep the squad to 25, and we are preparing for European football every season, it makes the manager’s job easier and it proves we can deal with the extra games.”
Everton are back in UEFA competition for the first time since 2010
Jagielka is one of five survivors from Everton’s last European game - a 3-0 defeat away to Sporting Lisbon in February 2010 - and says he is desperate to win the competition.
The centre-half cannot wait to face Germany's Wolfsburg on Thursday night at Goodison Park, and says he has really missed European football.
“England didn’t really compensate and it was a bit of frustration really because you want to win things and if you are not in a competition, it’s quite hard to win it,” he said.
“I’ve just turned 32, so the amount of times I’m going to get into cup competitions is drastically coming down, so for me, I’m desperate to win a cup, win two cups, win three cups. These are the competitions you go into.
“You tune into the latter stages of the Europa League and you see the teams involved, why would you not want to be one of those teams?”
Everton vs Wolfsburg: Probable teams
Source: Mirror
