Gibson dreams of Champions League at Goodison

Republic of Ireland exile Darron Gibson has revealed the thought of Champions League nights at Goodison is driving him to help Everton reach Europe’s elite competition.

Gibson is refusing to play for Giovanni Trapattoni after being deemed surplus to requirements at the European Championships but is exhilarated by the possibly of reaching the Champions League with Everton.

Everton are sixth in the league, level on points with fifth-placed Arsenal, while third to seventh spots are separated by just two points.

“Could you imagine Real Madrid or Barcelona coming for a Champions League game?” Gibson said. “The atmosphere at Goodison would be frightening.

Gibson has Champions League experience from his time at Manchester United and is acutely aware of how sizeable an achievement qualifying with Everton would be.

“It would be massive for the club,” he continued.

“To play in it next season is a massive ask but it’s important for everyone at the club because we all want to take Everton forward and improve.

“If we could get that fourth place I’d savour it, we all would, but I don’t think we’re setting it in stone as a target. We just need to keep putting points on the board.”

Nikica Jelavic will be key to Everton’s top-four hopes and Gibson has heaped praise on the Croatian, comparing him to former United team-mates Ruud van Nistelrooy and Michael Owen.

“He’s a bit like Michael Owen or Van Nistelrooy in the box,” Gibson said. “He’s first class and I don’t think there’s many better than him in the Premier League at the moment.’’

Everton are yet to lose a game in which Gibson has played all 90 minutes since his move to the Toffees last January.

“I’ve loved it — the lads, staff at the club and the manager have made it very easy for me to settle in and the good run of form we’ve been on has helped,” he said. “We’ve got a great squad with some talented players.”

Meanwhile Ireland’s slide down the Fifa rankings has continued with Trapattoni’s men dropping a further six places to joint 42nd alongside Gabon and Bolivia for December.

It means Ireland have fallen 19 places since January after a difficult year which featured saw them finish pointless at Euro 2012 before suffering a 6-1 home defeat to Germany in a World Cup qualifier in October.

European champions Spain remain top ahead of Germany in second and Argentina in third.

Brazil, remarkably, have slumped to 18th.