Baines grateful for Merseyside derby distraction

Everton defender Leighton Baines admits his England duties will help take his mind off the forthcoming Merseyside derby.

The Goodison Park club host Liverpool on November 23, but Baines could feature in internationals against Chile and Germany before then.

And the 28-year-old believes the time away will prove a welcome distraction as anticipation builds ahead of the fixture.

“When a derby is coming up everyone gets excited and you just want to get out there and do it,” Baines told the Everton website.

“But we get to switch off from it to some extent because a lot of us go away for quite important games for our countries and hopefully we’ll come back together and get a good result.”

Meanwhile, fellow full-back Seamus Coleman, who is currently on international duty with the Republic of Ireland, revealed his excitement at taking on the club’s city rivals.

“It is a massive game and massive in terms of the table and we’re all looking forward to that,” he said.

“There is still the same excitement as my first one. Hopefully we can put on a good show.”

Everton currently sit sixth in the Premier League on 20 points, three adrift of Liverpool who are second.