DAVID MOYES believes Everton’s tough February will determine whether they can target a Europa League place this season.
The Goodison outfit bounced back from Saturday’s FA Cup exit by stretching their unbeaten league run to eight games with a routine 2-0 home win over Sunderland last night.
Tim Cahill gave Everton a seventh-minute lead before turning provider for on-loan Landon Donovan to score his first goal for the club 12 minutes later.
The win moves Moyes’s side to within eight points of seventh-placed Aston Villa and likely European qualification. After finishing this month with a trip to Wigan Athletic on Saturday, Everton face a difficult February with games against Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
And Moyes reckons that spell will shape the remainder of his team’s campaign.
“We all wanted to get the Cup defeat (against Birmingham City) out of the system quickly and I thought in the main the players did that tonight,” said the Everton manager. “We went about it in the right way.
“We had done the work in the first half which made things a little it easier. This was a good job, a good result.
“I think we are on a good tun without me feeling we have gone all that long unbeaten. We’re beginning to get a little momentum and have to try and keep that going now.
“I’m looking for real high quality all the time, and a lot of the games we have been unbeaten we have drawn. But some were important draws at the time.
“It’s difficult to decide what the target is until we win a few more games. If we can continue picking up points in the next month then we have a pretty good last third of the season.
“If we can get through February with a lot of tough games then we can still finish in a strong position.”
Donovan’s strike continued his impressive form since arriving at the start of the month on a 10-week loan from MLS side LA Galaxy.
And Moyes moved to praise the impact of the United States international, who would have netted a second but for a fine goalline clearance from Sunderland defender George McCartney.
“Landon has settled in quickly,” he said. “He started against Arsenal and Manchester City, who are two of the better teams in the country, and did really well in both games.
