Kenwright offers Moyes support

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright is determined to raise David Moyes’s shattered morale.

The Scottish boss takes his team to Arsenal on Monday still in a state of shock after the 5-1 demolition by Dinamo Bucharest in the UEFA Cup.

Kenwright, who witnessed the debacle in Romania at first hand, is keen to offer Moyes support.

He said: “It is David’s job to lift the players spirits and it is my job to lift his.

“We are good friends and if I have to help him then that is what I will do.

“At the moment it is all about broken dreams but we will get on with the job of rebuilding.

“You have got to remember where this club was at this time last year.

“We have talked about it and David is very down but you would expect that.”

Given the team’s fragile confidence Arsenal are hardly preferred opposition - they notched up a 7-0 victory at Highbury last season.

Kenwright remains optimistic about how the weeks ahead will pan out.

“We are Everton and we will bounce back,” he said.

“It was never going to be an easy season after what we did last year.

“But when I look at where this club was 12 months ago, it is a measure of how far we have come under the manager.

“It is still early days. We have only played four Premiership games. It says something of how far we have come that we have played in the Champions League this season and have played in the UEFA Cup, too.”

Everton face Arsenal in tailspin after six defeats in their opening seven games. The debacle in Europe followed the home defeat by Portsmouth at the weekend.

Club captain David Weir is calling on his team-mates to banish their UEFA Cup nightmare to the memory bank.

Weir admits he is in a daze at the events which unfolded in Romania when they lost their shape and their way.

He said: “We cannot let this result affect what happens in the future.

“We have to look at our mistakes and address them.”

Moyes could be tempted to ring the changes following the cup setback. Mikel Arteta may be recalled to the side at the expense of James McFadden but James Beattie looks certain to miss out because of a toe injury.