Everton’s Leon Osman in action against Stoke City’s Matthew Upson during the Premiership match at the Britannia Stadium.
DAVID MOYES admits Everton FC have surpassed his expectations for this season – after their draw with Stoke guaranteed them a top 10 finish.
The Toffees were held 1-1 by Tony Pulis’ men at the Britannia Stadium last night, although the point widened the gap over Liverpool in the Premier League table to three points, and ensured they will finish no lower than 10th.
Moyes, who insisted his side were unfortunate not to secure another three points after Peter Crouch’s own goal gave them a first half lead, was in pragmatic mood afterwards.
“We will just try to keep winning, and I’ll be pleased with top 10,” he said. “I think the point just gets us top 10. Certainly our form from January might be better than the top 10, but I would have taken that all day long at the start of season.
“I thought we played very well, and we were a wee bit unlucky not to take more from it. But taking a point here is not the worst result.
“It was a fortuitous goal, but we deserved to go ahead, I felt. We played well, I was really pleased with how we performed.”
The Blues comfortably played the more stylish football in the face of their host’s trademark tactics, and Moyes welcomed his side’s display – even if they were unable to maintain their free-scoring streak.
He said: “I felt we started well. We moved Steven (Pienaar) in, brought Magaye on, and kept playing some nice football, keeping the ball.