Moyes juggling priorities

Everton manager David Moyes hinted he prioritised the FA Cup quarter-finals over the Merseyside derby after defeat to Liverpool.

Goodison Park boss rues conceding 'terrible goals'

Everton manager David Moyes hinted he prioritised the FA Cup quarter-finals over the Merseyside derby after suffering defeat at Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool. The Goodison Park club were beaten by a Steven Gerrard hat-trick at Anfield and missed the chance to overtake their bitter neighbours in the Premier League table. But Moyes, who celebrates his 10th anniversary as Everton boss on Wednesday, made six changes to the starting XI which defeated Tottenham at the weekend. The decision was seemingly based on Saturday's forthcoming FA Cup tie with Sunderland and the Toffees boss admitted the fixture congested did play a part in his thinking. He said: "I think Kenny made a lot of changes in his game up at Sunderland (Liverpool's previous league game).

Paid the price

"I think you have to juggle your squad and decide where you prioritise. "We have been on a good run and there were bits of what we did which were okay." Liverpool also face a weekend cup quarter-final, as they host Stoke on Sunday, but Dalglish named arguably his strongest possible side against Everton. He had paid the price after altering personnel in last weekend's league defeat at Sunderland, but had no such problems as Liverpool were deserved derby winners in midweek. Gerrard was the inspiration and was assisted by good performances from Luis Suarez and Martin Kelly, but Moyes thinks Everton's defending also played a part. He said: "We conceded three terrible goals. We contributed to our own downfall, but you have still got to go on and finish them and Liverpool did that."