Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has insisted Everton are not simply battling to avoid relegation this season, despite the club's chaotic end to the summer transfer window. The midfielder says the squad's quality and experience will carry them above the negativity surrounding the club.
Everton remain unbeaten in the league, but a series of failed deals and ill-timed sales left manager David Moyes with only 18 senior outfield players when the window closed. Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Jack Grealish arrived, but Beto, Tim Iroegbunam, Nathan Patterson and Iliman Ndiaye all left, while Folarin Balogun walked away from a proposed move.
Some observers suggested the club could now be in a relegation fight, but Dewsbury-Hall rejected that view.
Midfielder's Message to Doubters
“Definitely not what I’m seeing from the outside of just staying up,” he said. “Definitely not that. I’m very confident and I know the lads in the dressing room are quietly confident. We’ve got a lot of quality in the squad – and a lot of know-how and experience, hundreds of Premier League appearances.”
He added: “I know we’ve got a smaller squad but we’ve got a lot of quality, a lot of very good players.”
Dewsbury-Hall also praised the new signings, saying: “All of the signings who have come in are very good players and they’re going to offer something different. Ainsley’s settled in very quickly. He’s a good player and you could see that from the first session he had with us. Very tidy on the ball.”
Blocking Out the Noise
The midfielder stressed the importance of ignoring outside talk: “They’re the things we can’t control. Nothing is going to be perfect in football and it never is. We can only control what we can control and that’s to put in the best account of ourselves as we can when we step over the white lines.”
“In the start of the season, we’ve done that. We’re making sure no outside noise is affecting anything and we’ll continue to do what we’re trying to do,” he said.
England Ambitions
Dewsbury-Hall, who joined Everton from Chelsea last summer, has become one of the club's key players. The 28-year-old pledged his international allegiance to England last year and has been named in provisional squads under Thomas Tuchel, though he is yet to earn a cap.
Asked if his first cap could come this season, he said: “Yeah, I’m hoping so. You get the provisional squads which I’m in every time now. That tells you you’re close. I believe in my ability. I know if I can show what I know I can do, it’s inevitable at some point. I want to put it in the manager’s head, so he knows it’s not really an option. So, if I can do that, maybe I’ll be lucky and get one!”
He added: “With all due respect, I wouldn’t be waiting for England if I didn’t think I could play for England. I’m more than ready to show what I can do, and it’ll be up to [the manager] at the end of the day.”
