UEFA Cup run increased our desire says David Moyes

Mar 28 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

DAVID MOYES believes Everton’s UEFA Cup run has intensified their desire to beat Liverpool to the final Champions League qualification place.

And the Goodison Park manager reckons the “best is yet to come” from his team as they prepare for their pivotal Merseyside derby this weekend.

Moyes aims for the first victory at Anfield of his six-year tenure when his team cross Stanley Park on Sunday afternoon.

A win would move Everton a point ahead of their neighbours in the race for fourth place with six games remaining – four of which are at home.

And, having seen their UEFA Cup campaign halted in dramatic fashion when losing a penalty shoot-out against Fiorentina earlier this month, Moyes is confident his players are now keen to prove themselves in the Champions League.

“We really enjoyed being in Europe this term, and we were gutted when we went out,” said Moyes. “But that showed me that we want more of it, we need more of it.

“We would really want to be in the ‘big’ competition now having had a run in the UEFA Cup. And there’s a lot of things that can still change, with some strange results. But the Premier League has been like that this season at different times.

“It is a very exciting division, with as many as eight at the bottom fighting to avoid relegation, four or so at the top who are desperate to be in the Champions League and a few in the middle chasing Europe.

“We have four at home and three away, so I have to make sure that we win the majority of those at home and pick up some away.”

Everton managed to loosen the stranglehold of the supposed ‘big four’ in 2005 when they beat Liverpool to fourth place and earn a chance of qualifying for the Champions League group stage.

Moyes regards that as his biggest achievement so far at Goodison Park, but added: “The best moments are still to come though, that is how I always look at it. That is my look on life.

“I really hope that is true at Everton. I’m looking, I suppose, for perfection.

“I am always told that I am very intense, but when I was a young player and growing up I used to look at Alex Ferguson at Aberdeen.

“Intensity comes with the job because I am determined to succeed. I am doing everything I can to succeed here and I work hard and I am very determined.”

With only one UEFA Cup place available through league placing, Everton are strong favourites to earn a second successive European qualification, with the Goodison Park outfit currently seven points clear of sixth-placed Portsmouth.

And Moyes said: “We aim to finish this season still fighting and interested in what we have been working all season for.

“We can only do our job in the battle with Liverpool. If we win it puts pressure back on Liverpool, but also on Aston Villa, Manchester City and Blackburn. It makes them feel it is getting harder and harder for them, every time we win.

“There is only one remaining UEFA Cup spot, the way it has worked out this season with Spurs winning the Carling Cup.

“If we can’t quite get the Champions League, we have to take that final place in the UEFA Cup.”