'Everton are bigger than battling relegation'

After finishing 16th in 2021-22 and 17th in 2022-23, Everton have spent another season fighting for survival in the Premier League.

However, the Toffees did manage to secure their top-flight status for another year, despite receiving an eight-point deduction for breaching the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules.

Former Blues midfielder Leon Osman has been discussing the club's ambitions on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club, stating: "Battling relegation is not the plan for the team or for the club.

"We are bigger than that - we feel that we are bigger than that - but you have to actually get the results on the pitch.

"What always makes it more difficult is the instability we have had. We had seven managers in seven years before Sean Dyche. So you are going to find it difficult to get momentum, keep momentum and move forward.

"Our managers for the most part - barring Carlo Ancelotti who left to go to Real Madrid - left because they had been doing a bad job and they had been sacked or moved on.

"Sean Dyche's first role last season was to keep the club in the Premier League. The next step, after he had managed that on the final day, was to rebuild the club and make progress - but then he was hit with all of the points deductions.

"He has actually made a stride forward. We would be on 44 points, which would probably get us about 12th or 13th place at the minute, had we not had those points deductions.

"We aren't the easiest team on the eye at times. We are not the team that is going to win games by having more possession than the opposition. We are good at what we do - set pieces, defensively and on the counter-attack."

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