Everton captain Phil Neville: This season is a failure even if we finish above Liverpool

Phil Neville of Everton (Getty Images)

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Everton captain Phil Neville will see this season as a failure even if the club manage to finish above city rivals Liverpool.

The Toffees are on a five-match unbeaten run in the league, taking them clear of a relegation scrap.

That run has left them five points behind their neighbours, but despite being dogged by injuries this season Neville feels the side have underachieved.

“The thing with the league this year is that there have been so many times when we’ve thought we can push into the top half and make inroads into the top seven and we’ve always faltered,” Neville told the Liverpool Echo.

“Now we’re eighth and the way it’s going this year anything can happen.

“We’ve just got to finish as high as possible. There are eight games left and I don’t think one team from that middle section have put a run together yet.

“We aim to be above Bolton, Sunderland and Liverpool. If we finish in front of Liverpool and don’t achieve anything, that’s still a failure for me.”

But the skipper is pleased with the club’s recent run and admits past experiences may have helped the side at this point in the season.

“The teams around us are all scrapping too, and maybe we have to go back to three or four years ago when we had to grind out results,” he added.

“This club is ingrained in that kind of spirit and that’s what the manager wants from us now.

“On the quiet we’re developing a nice little run.”