All-English back four a help – Leighton Baines

Jan 6 2009 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

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LEIGHTON BAINES believes Everton’s all-English connection is helping maintain their mean streak in defence.

The Goodison Park outfit kept their fifth consecutive clean sheet to ease past Macclesfield Town in the FA Cup at the weekend.

With Joseph Yobo injured, left-back Baines has starred alongside fellow Englishmen Phil Jagielka, Tony Hibbert and Joleon Lescott in the last three games.

And Baines reckons the understanding with his compatriots has been a key element of ensuring Everton’s defence has still not been breached since Aston Villa’s Ashley Young netted on December 8.

“It’s unusual to have an entirely English back four,” said Baines. “It’s nice to play alongside the lads, especially as the likes of myself, Jol (Joleon Lescott) and Jags (Phil Jagielka) have come from the Championship and seen things like Macclesfield and played these games as league games at times.

“I think having an all-English back four can sometimes boost communication and make little things easier.”

Baines added to evertonTV: “Earlier on in the season we couldn’t seem to get too many but now it’s all fallen into place and we’re keeping clean sheets.

“That’s a credit to Tim (Howard) and not just the players at the back but the lads in front of them as well.

“I think everyone’s playing really well at the moment as a team so that helps massively.”

Meanwhile, Everton manager David Moyes is considering whether to take advantage of Manchester City’s desire to offload Michael Johnson by signing the midfielder on a six-month loan.

The 20-year-old, who was on Everton’s books as a youngster, is expected to be one of several players shipped out of Eastlands during the transfer window, despite only signing a new five-year contract in September.