Stubbs On Why 'Dominant' Everton Are In 'Ideal' Place

Alan Stubbs believes the "dominant" nature of Everton's 2-0 win over Burnley sets up David Moyes' side perfectly for a push to secure European football with nine games of the Premier League season remaining.

James Tarkowski's powerful header against his former club set the Blues on their way at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Tuesday night, before Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall applied a delicate finish to the end of an impressive team move in the second half to seal all three points.

Everton currently sit eighth in the Premier League table, just one point behind seventh-placed Brentford and two points shy of Chelsea in sixth, heading into a 10-day break before a visit to title-chasing Arsenal on 14 March.

Speaking on the Club's Matchday Live show, former Toffees captain Stubbs said: "It was a really comfortable win for Everton in the end. I think you saw the confidence levels grow as the game went on – all of the players wanting to get on the ball and, if anything, it could have been won by more. It could have been by three or four goals. Everton go into this little break now on the back of two really strong performances, even more importantly six points. It puts them in a really, really healthy position right now and an ideal position heading into this little break.

"I think after our home performances of late, this was a much-needed confidence-booster.

"You don't see many comfortable wins in the comfortable but today that was – and it was probably just what Everton needed. The home form has probably been the biggest question in terms of the season. The away form has been spectacular, the home form has been patchy – but tonight was a really dominant performance from start to finish.

"Even before Everton scored, you weren't concerned about Burnley hurting Everton but, even though you're thinking that, the first goal is so important. You could see that once it went in – Everton started to enjoy more possession and hurt Burnley more in the right areas of the pitch. 

"There were a lot of strong individual performances, too. You can look around the team: Dwight McNeil was very good, you could see the confidence oozing out of Iliman Ndiaye, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall got better as the game went on, Idrissa Gana Gueye really solid, the back four probably had their most comfortable game of the season. There were lots of positives. Everton went about it exactly the right way."

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