"If Everton finish this season in the top 10 they will have bucked the trend and proved that for the first time in a long time they're moving forward."

The Blues have enjoyed a remarkable turnaround in fortunes since New Year's Eve and Gray reckons their revival is down to a change in mentality as well as form.

He said: "What's the difference? A bit of luck and a lot of confidence.

"Players like Mikel Arteta and James Beattie are looking like the footballers we know they can be, and it's not because they're working any harder, but because they go out onto the pitch believing they are going to win."

Gray also praised Goodison chairman Bill Kenwright for backing manager David Moyes through the troubles of 2005 and is pleased that the Everton supremo's patience has now been rewarded.

He said: "Everton's spirit was epitomised in Bill Kenwright's loyalty towards David Moyes.

"Too many chairmen can get itchy trigger fingers when fans are starting to get restless, but Ken-wright had faith in the manager who had taken them into Europe.

"It reminded me of the calls for Howard Kendall's head before the mid-Eighties success that Evertonians can only dream about now."