HOME COMFORT FOR NEVILLE

Phil Neville believes Everton can take heart from their recent impressive home form as they seek to build on an excellent start to 2006.

The Blues have won each of their last three games at Goodison, defeating Charlton, Millwall and Arsenal.

But that run followed three consecutive home defeats against West Ham, Bolton and Liverpool.

Neville is acutely aware of the need to do well at home in order to maintain the climb up the table.

"There is a lot to do and we are still cautious but hopefully we can be a lot more consistent," he said.

"We are looking at the programme now and looking at the fixtures we have got at home.

"If we play anything like the standards that we set last season, then we are going to be a top half of the table team, maybe pushing for sixth or seventh place.

"If we don't and we play like we did in the first half of the season, we'll be in a dog fight.

"The key now is to make Goodison a real fortress. We need to keep this run going and carry on this consistent form.

"We are beginning not to concede goals at the moment. Sometimes you think to yourself 'don't say anything' because it can sometimes tempt fate. But we are a lot more solid and we are creating chances as well.

"I think maybe 60 per cent of our games are at home now until the end of the season and looking at it on paper, there are games that we should be winning. If we reach the standards we know we can, we won't have a problem."