DAVID MOYES believes Everton have proven Rafael Benitez wrong over his “small club” jibe – and is determined to underline the point tomorrow.

The Goodison outfit return to Anfield for the second time in six days for their FA Cup fourth round tie, having earned a deserved 1-1 draw at their neighbours on Monday night.

Liverpool manager Benitez caused uproar following a goalless derby draw at Anfield in February 2007 when he described the Goodison outfit as a “small club”.

Since then, Everton have finished in the top six in consecutive seasons, and last year reached the semi-finals of the League Cup and enjoyed an extended run in the UEFA Cup.

Moyes’s men are on course for another top-six finish and are only eight points off the Champions League qualification places.

And asked if the Benitez jibe still rankled, Moyes said: “No. We have proved that. We don’t need to talk about it.”

Everton have failed to progress beyond the fifth round of the FA Cup under Moyes’s seven-year tenure, and the manager accepts that is a record that needs vast improvement.

“It’s important to get thorough in the Cup and we want to try and do so,” said the Scot. “I’ve said many times that we have not tended to have particularly good runs in the competition, partly through our own doing and partly because we have had unfortunate draws. We are trying to put that right.

“At this stage of the cup, you are always hoping for a home tie and probably lesser opposition. That would be the ideal scenario. I’m sure it was exactly the same for Liverpool.”