Kevin Mirallas on the mark for Everton FC
KEVIN MIRALLAS hopes it won’t be long before he is lighting up Goodison.
But Everton’s exciting new Belgian striker has already enjoyed his first few experiences of a floodlit Goodison Park.
The 24-year-old scored twice on his full debut in the Capital One Cup – a night match against Leyton Orient – and received a warm ovation after a lively full Premier League debut against Newcastle on Monday evening.
And he admits he comes alive after dark. “I’ve always preferred playing night games myself,” he said. “That’s a personal preference of mine and I’ve been fortunate to have now played two games at Goodison, both at night.
“It’s a fantastic atmosphere and you always get the feeling that the fans are right behind you. Let’s hope they continue to be behind us all season.”
Mirallas believes he is still not at full match fitness, but when he is Blues fans will see him really start to sparkle.
After impressing against Newcastle he added: “I felt very comfortable out there. I saw a lot of the ball and I got a lot of support from my teammates. They were talking to me all through the game.
“I’m still conscious I’m not 100 per cent fit yet and I think I still need maybe two or three more games to get that full match fitness.
“I’ve been ready to work really hard. The main reason that I am hopefully settling in quite well and quite quickly is the fact that I’m really prepared to go all out – both in training and on the field.”
“I want to roll my sleeves up and get stuck in. That’s important and they are the kind of lessons I’ve learnt here so far.”
Boss David Moyes added: “He had three or four chances which he made himself.
“He will give us another attacking player who looks like he may have a goal in him. He scored a lot of goals in Greece and I think you could see that against Newcastle. Hopefully a few will go in for us.”
The young Belgian has also learned about the inconsistencies of refereeing in the Premier League, after Everton were denied victory and third place in the table by two poor decisions.
Victor Anichebe was denied a ‘goal’ despite his header crossing the goal-line, while Marouane Fellaini saw another incorrectly ruled out for offside.
“The disallowed goals were a shame,” he added, “but you can never really contest a referee or a linesman’s decision. That’s football and that’s sport.
“Sometimes it goes for you and others it goes against you. It would have certainly been three points for us if those goals had counted.
“On our first half display we deserved a handsome victory. But when you concede goals like that, you might deserve a win but you can get punished. That’s football – you concede and that’s the victory taken away from you.”
Victor Anichebe, who thought he had earned victory for Everton with a sweet finish two minutes from time, admits he is happy to learn from new arrivals like Mirallas and Nikica Jelavic as he seeks to reclaim a regular first team starting place.
“I am always happy just to be on the pitch as I’ve had some injuries in my time,” he said.
“It is nice for me to learn off Niki as he plays as that lone striker and he’s a great player.
“He plays between the centre-halves and that’s what I’m trying to do more instead of dropping off.
“Kevin had some good cameo runs and he is one of those players who always wants to do something on the ball.”
He was philosophical about not being awarded a goal earlier when the ball bounced down off the underside of the crossbar and went over the line before Mike Williamson cleared.
“Sometimes these things go against you but hopefully as the season goes on we’ll get some luck,” Anichebe added.
Everton’s next outing will come at Swansea’s Liberty Stadium on Saturday and Anichebe added: “There’s always positives to take from the game and hopefully we go into the game at the weekend on a high.
“We played really well (on Monday). Obviously we’re not happy to concede goals but that’s football and hopefully we’ll have all those problems solved.”
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