Ferguson couldn’t have asked for more from the Everton players

Everton welcome Arsenal to Goodison Park on Saturday in what could be Duncan Ferguson’s last game in charge of the Blues on a caretaker basis with Carlo Ancelotti expected in the stands.

Speaking to the media today in the pre-match press conference, the manager did not offer much hope in terms of reinforcements however. When asked if he was going to get a few players back from the foot-long list of injured and ill players, Ferguson quipped -

“There’s one or two been training. There’s still some sickness in the camp but I’m hopeful we’ll have a few more in the squad.

“We’re asking players to play three games in six days. There are concerns. I’m sure they’ll step up. To come through these games without losing a game.

“Hopefully they’ll be up for it again.”

Big Dunc has been pretty happy with the effort his players have put in, especially with the turmoil at the manager position.

“I think we’ve got a little bit of the club back, back to the fans. We’ve all pulled together as a club.

“I’ve not seen any distraction in the players. They are focused on winning the game. We’re still in a perilous position.”

“We’re undefeated against three top teams. The players are good enough, they just had to believe in themselves and we go again tomorrow.

“I couldn’t have asked for anymore from the players.

“We’ve proved that we can beat top teams. We need to sustain that now... We’ve proven that we can do that and need to continue it, push up the league and away from the relegation zone.”

On his own future prospects, he declined to comment too much about who will be coming in next or whether he would have a role to play in the coaching staff, but when asked if he had picked up a taste for managing at the Premier League level, he said -

“It’s not something I’m particularly pushing for at the moment. Maybe 2-3 years down the line. This has been a great education for myself... we’ve all got ambitions. I’m still young enough. Maybe it’ll happen down the line.

“If it is end tomorrow, then hopefully it will end on a high.”