Moyes is hopeful Lescott, a transfer target for Manchester City, will be available for tomorrow’s encounter against Malaga.

The Goodison manager was particularly unhappy with the attitude of his team at Bloomfield Road on Tuesday night.

And Neville reckons the result was a wake-up call, and urged Everton to avoid having to once again play catch-up after the opening weeks of the coming campaign.

“We need 11 leaders out there, and that’s what we’ve had for four years since I came to the club,” he added. “We’ve got international players out there, everyone should be taking responsibility.

“Last season we started the season slowly, and fortunately enough we recovered. How many times we can keep doing that I don’t know, but one thing is that we must make sure we start the season well, make sure we’re mentally tough, we’re solid and we do the things that Everton does best.

“We need to get back to that on Friday against Malaga, and obviously a good week’s training next week as well.”

Everton supporters are being reminded that admission to tomorrow’s game with Malaga at Goodison is by ticket only.

Club officials are advising supporters to purchase their tickets in advance to avoid congestion at the Box Office before kick-off.

Tickets are currently on general sale and cost just £10 for adults, £5 for seniors and £1 for juniors.

But there will be no cash admission on the turnstiles, although fans can buy in person from the Park End Box Office up to kick-off at 8pm.