Everton captain Seamus Coleman believes that the strength in numbers that Carlo Ancelotti now possesses is spurring the team on as they confidently search for their seventh consecutive win on Saturday against Brighton & Hove Albion.
If the Blues beat the Seagulls it would maintain their 100% start to the 2020/21 season and be the first time that the club have recorded seven straight victories since their last League Championship-winning campaign back in 1987.
Coleman was one of four starters from Everton’s 2-1 win at Crystal Palace last Saturday who were rested for the 4-1 success against West Ham United in the Carabao Cup that has now teed up a quarter-final clash at home to Manchester United in December - although Jonjoe Kenny's injury saw him thrust into the action as a 42nd minute substitute.
With Ancelotti able to shuffle his pack and still progress with ease, his skipper is pleased with the options at the Blues boss’ disposal.
Writing in his programme notes for the visit of Brighton, Coleman said: “Wednesday showed the depth of the squad we have now.
“Players who haven’t started regularly as yet, like Fabian (Delph), Gylfi (Sigurdsson) and Niels (Nkounkou), came in and did very well.
“It’s exactly what the manager is asking for. He wants difficult decisions when he sits down to pick his teams.
“I must mention DCL (Dominic Calvert-Lewin) again, too. To get two hat-tricks in two consecutive home games is brilliant for him... and for the team.
“I’m told it’s been 66 years since an Everton player did that, so fair play to him!
“Our stats are looking very impressive, but nobody is getting carried away.
“It’s early days and what we’ve done is given ourselves a platform to try to build a successful season.”
With first place Leicester City and second place Liverpool – the only other clubs with nine points on the board so far – both not playing until Sunday, Everton also have the opportunity to claim top spot in the Premier League table again on Saturday evening.
Coleman insists that while the Blues players are going into the fixture in a bullish mood, they won’t be taking their opponents lightly though.
He said: “It goes without saying that we will be going into today’s match full of confidence after an excellent start to the season, but I will also stress there will be absolutely no complacency from us.
“We all know how tough the Premier League can be and we’ve seen some unexpected results already in the first few weeks of the season.
“We also know what Brighton & Hove Albion are capable of.
“They’ve already had a great win on the road at Newcastle and they were very unlucky not to take a point from their game with Manchester United last weekend.
“But after six wins from six, we are looking forward to every challenge that comes our way.”
