Moyes still hurting from Reds defeat

Everton manager David Moyes says the club’s FA Cup semi-final loss to Liverpool last season has spurred them on this term.

Everton manager David Moyes says the club’s FA Cup semi-final loss to Liverpool last season has spurred them on this term.

Moyes’s side fell to a 2-1 defeat against their Merseyside rivals last April, which denied them a place in the final, however, after beating Oldham 3-1 in their fifth-round replay they now have another chance to reach the same stage.

And the Scot insisted that he would love nothing more than to lead his team to Wembley once more, something that might fill the void left by the exit to the Reds.

Moyes told reporters: “I still have the disappointment of the FA Cup semi-final last year against Liverpool and nothing would give me more pleasure than to get Everton back to Wembley to try and reach another final.”

Everton have been drawn at home against fellow Premier League side Wigan in the quarter-finals of this year’s competition.

Goalkeeper Tim Howard believes the draw gives them a good chance of progression, also admitting they are riding on the disappointment of their last campaign.

He said: “What happened to us last year has given us a real drive to get back there, but the way Wembley makes me feel, makes the team feel and makes the fans feel, is also giving us that drive.

“It’s always tough to lose to Liverpool, more so in those circumstances and on that big occasion.

“In order for us to experience that again, we have to get past Wigan. But the draw has been favourable and it was good to get a home draw finally.”

The USA international also thinks the Goodison Park outfit are yet to reach their peak this season, while indicating their small squad means they may rely heavily of their ‘big players’.

“I don’t think we are firing on all cylinders and, at the moment, I think that’s a good thing,” the 33-year-old said.

“Let’s hope we have something in reserve. We spent a lot of energy in the first half of the season and now it’s more about our big players.

“We don’t have a large squad so it’s going to be about the big players producing. Most of the teams around us can chop and change their team on a given weekend and still have a lot of firepower.”