Sunday 17 December 2017 15:08, UK
Everton boss Sam Allardyce has warned his players not to regard Monday's game with bottom-of-the-table Swansea as an easy assignment.
Allardyce has led the Toffees into the top half of the Premier League table since taking over at Goodison Park, while their Welsh visitors have been beaten in seven of their last nine fixtures.
But the Everton boss insists his players must remain completely focused if they want to continue their promising recent run in the Monday Night Football clash.
"I'm not expecting any complacency," he said. "It is my big word to the players, that this will not be an easy task, it will be a difficult task, as always, and don't slip up against a side everybody expects you to beat.
"You will only get the opportunity to beat them if you play 100 per cent to your level, which is what we have had to do certainly in the last four games we have played."
Everton are unbeaten in their last five matches in all competitions, the first of which was a 4-0 win over West Ham when Allardyce was watching in the stands as David Unsworth took charge for the final time.
"I'm working with people who look like they are all on board, trying to go the right way," he added. "The club has had a difficult spell and hopefully we can continue to get through this difficult spell.
"The lads have done magnificently by getting 10 points out of 12, and it has given us a little bit of breathing space but not stopped us being as ambitious as we possibly can."
Allardyce believes Swansea's woes this season have not been helped by the departure of Fernando Llorente to Tottenham.
Allardyce said: "I think Paul (Clement) did an unbelievable job at Swansea when he came in last year.
"He was so disappointed he hasn't been able to take it on from there. But like everywhere, there was a change around in players.
"The impact Llorente had with Paul was one of the main reasons they stayed in the league and it has probably been his problem now, where they haven't got enough goals, or as many as Llorente scored, and hence they have not picked up as many points as they would like."
