PHIL NEVILLE branded Everton’s defeat to Queens Park Rangers as not up to scratch – but backed the club’s spirit to help them put it right.

The Goodison Park captain has refused to blame any of last week’s off-field events – where chairman Bill Kenwright revealed the extent of the club’s financial struggle – for the poor showing on Saturday afternoon as Tommy Smith’s first-half goal sealed a 1-0 win for the Premier League newcomers.

Neville says there was no excuse for what he and Everton served up and even though the squad has not been bolstered as manager David Moyes would have liked this summer, the 34-year-old insists there remained sufficient quality to have seen off Neil Warnock’s QPR.

The skipper is determined not to become engulfed in the gloom which is surrounding Everton and has urged everyone connected with the club to look back to the progress of the past few years as a means of drawing inspiration.

Neville, who signed a contract extension yesterday to keep him at Everton until 2013, has also warned his team-mates that they are now fighting to prove themselves as top flight professional footballers after Saturday’s showing.

“It wasn’t good enough,” said Neville.

“I think this important to say. We can’t beat around the bush. There feels as if there is a lot of negativity surrounding the place at the moment and everyone can feel it. I think it is important to say that there are a lot of good things happening here.

“We have got great foundations, great supporters and a set of players that have done really well these last three or four years. Supporters will say it is easy for me to talk about the spirit of the club but the spirit is what has set this club apart, going back to the days when Howard Kendall was manager and, before that, when Brian Labone was playing.