Toffees shrug off defeat

Everton captain Phil Jagielka feels it may not be an entirely bad thing that the club have fallen just short of going the whole of 2013 unbeaten at home in the Premier League.

The Toffees went into their St Stephen’s Day clash against Sunderland knowing they only had to avoid defeat in that match and the visit of Southampton tomorrow to pull off the feat.

But their hopes were ended as the Black Cats, the division’s bottom side, emerged with a surprise 1-0 away win thanks to a penalty from Ki Sung-yueng after he had been fouled by Toffees goalkeeper Tim Howard, who was sent off for the indiscretion.

As well as the suspended Howard — set to be replaced tomorrow by Joel Robles, who came on for his Everton league debut against Sunderland — the Toffees will also face Southampton without Gareth Barry, with the on-loan Manchester City midfielder having to serve a ban after picking up his fifth booking of the season in the St Stephen’s Day game.

Jagielka is confident Everton will be able to cope with those losses.

“It’s pretty simple,” he said.

“Joel will obviously come in for T-How. He’s been waiting for his chance and he’s played well in some of the cup games.

“The manager (Roberto Martinez) will then decide what he’ll do with the midfield, how he’ll rejig that.

“But we’ve got a decent squad and some good players to come in, some fresh players as well — which is obviously important over this period — so hopefully they can come in, freshen up the squad, and we can put in a good performance.”

For his part, Southampton boss Mauricio Pochettino is happy to have the games coming thick and fast as he prepares to take his side to Goodison Park.

The Saints recorded their first win in seven games against Cardiff on Boxing Day as two goals from Jay Rodriguez and one by Rickie Lambert secured a handsome 3-0 win over the Bluebirds.

There is little time to dwell on the result with the trip to Merseyside looming on the horizon, ahead of a New Year’s Day meeting with Chelsea.

But former Argentina international Pochettino says he and his players have no issue with the schedule and, in fact, are relishing it.

He said: “I think we are thoroughly enjoying this period. We are getting paid to do what we enjoy.”

“It is a busy period but we and the fans are enjoying this period.”

Pochettino will assess the fitness of Dejan Lovren after illness forced the defender out of the Cardiff fixture, whie Nathaniel Clyne and Dani Osvaldo are in contention.

But Artur Boruc (hand), Victor Wanyama (shin) and Guly do Prado (knee) remain sidelined.