LEIGHTON BAINES admits Everton FC have to hit the ground running this season to avoid playing yet another game of catch-up – as the left-back praised the pre-season contribution of Magaye Gueye.
The Goodison outfit have acquired the unhappy knack of struggling to get off to a flying start during in recent years.
Everton won only three of their first 17 Premier League games last season but ended up in seventh place after losing just five of the remaining 21.
And 12 months earlier, David Moyes’s men were beaten only twice in their last 24 top-flight games after losing half of their opening 14 outings.
Everton are back on Merseyside having completed their US tour, which ended with an encouraging 3-1 win over DC United in Washington on Saturday evening.
And asked if Moyes’s side can make a strong opening to the season, Baines said: “We hope so.
"We’re trying to do all the right things now to make sure that happens and not give ourselves a mountain to climb later on.
