Jordan Pickford Dismisses Everton Confidence Concerns Ahead of Huge Watford Showdown

Jordan Pickford has insisted that Everton are not short of confidence despite a run of eight matches without a win in all competitions.

Pickford, a £30m summer signing from Sunderland, called on the club's senior players to stand up and show their quality, ahead of Sunday's clash with Watford, in an interview with Everton's official site.

The terrible Toffees currently find themselves 18th in the Premier League after picking up just two wins from their opening 10 league fixtures of the season.

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The Blues have also bowed out of two cup competitions in the past 10 days, with a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup being compounded by their Europa League exit after losing 3-0 away at Lyon.

Everton have now lost their last five matches in a row - a run they haven't experienced since the 2005/06 campaign - but Pickford scoffed at claims that a lack of confidence was killing him and his teammates before games even kicked off.

He said: “We just have to keep going and going. Once you get that little bit of confidence with an early goal or an important save as a keeper or a block as a defender, that just helps us build throughout the team. 

“We aren’t short of confidence but that bit of luck we haven’t got yet. We’re in a time where you become men and where the characters become big characters in the dressing room. You’ve got to have a bit about you.”

Temporary boss David Unsworth is likely to take charge of his final senior match at Goodison Park against the Hornets after overseeing three defeats in the games he has helmed since Ronald Koeman's sacking.

And Pickford admitted that all of Everton's first-team stars were desperate to hand him - and themselves - a vital victory in front of a packed Goodison crowd to provide some relief ahead of the international break.

He added: “We definitely want to win for him. He has come in and been great with us. He has been straight with, not cutting anything out.

“We want to make sure we are tight defensively and then go forward as an attacking team. If you have that good shape, going forward is the easy bit.”