Distin hails threadbare Toffees’ squad as top four finish looms

Everton 2 QPR 0

A comfortable win at Goodison Park put another nail in the coffin of second-bottom QPR but lifted David Moyes’ side within three points of Champions League qualification.

They have not been in the top four since just before Christmas and the dream of joining Europe’s elite appeared to have faded with the onset of 2013. However, 13 points from the last five league matches — their best run since winning five in-a-row in November 2002 — has shot them back into genuine contention.

With a trip to third-placed Arsenal tomorrow night, the Toffees could enhance their claims further, which is admirable considering the six teams currently above them — plus Liverpool one place below — all have bigger budgets.

“It will be a great achievement if we do secure Europe because we don’t have a massive squad,” the Frenchman reckoned. “We know financially we are not in a position to buy four or five players every transfer window but we still compete against teams who spend 10 or even 100 times more than we do.”

One of those teams who have spent considerably more than Everton are QPR, but their expensively-assembled squad showed at Goodison Park they are worth considerably less than the sum of their parts.

Starting the match seven points from safety — where they remained after it — they did not appear up for the fight and once Darron Gibson’s drive took a big deflection off Clint Hill to beat Julio Cesar their body language gave the game away.

When Victor Anichebe hooked in from close range shortly after half-time there was little in the way of a response. Manager Harry Redknapp appears to be getting his excuses ready.

“It was always going to be difficult because a third of the season had gone with four points on the board (when he took over),” he said. “You take a team on which is basically not your team but you try to get the best out of them and I think we’ve done that but whether it is good enough in the end.. it is going to be difficult.”