Rafa Benitez is urging his players to summon the intensity and enterprise that underpinned a tremendous beginning to the campaign when Everton host Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Manager Benitez oversaw four wins and two draws from his opening seven Premier League games in charge.

Three straight defeats slammed the brakes on that fast start – but Benitez is convinced this difficult patch will ultimately be recorded as a footnote on a positive campaign.

Everton would begin making up ground with victory over a Spurs side currently one position and one point above Benitez’s 10^th-placed side.

“When you aren’t doing so well, you have to think about how to improve things, especially the confidence and mentality,” said Benitez.

“I go back to the good things we have done.

“We started the season really well. The players showed commitment and intensity, everything the fans were expecting.

“We have to remember that and go back to our first games and what we were doing well.

“We have some injuries, some issues with players, and the Premier League is quite complicated.

“You make one mistake against a team, then the next game you lose a bit of confidence and the next game feels more difficult.

“You have to remember what you did well and try to stick with these ideas.

“I remember when everyone was talking about it being the best football they’d seen in a while [during opening two months] and now we have this issue with the past three games.

“I have 100 percent belief they will do well during the season. I can see the commitment of the players and I see what we’re trying to change.”

A handful of positions are up for grabs in Benitez’s team this weekend, even with the manager definitively ruling out the quartet of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Andre Gomes and Yerry Mina.

Anthony Gordon, who came closest to producing an equaliser after coming off the bench at Wolves on Monday, is pushing for a start to cap a week when the forward received a first England Under-21 call.

Benitez congratulated the 20-year-old forward on his international recognition, adding: “He is a player who is growing and getting better

“I am sure he will do well and be an important player for Everton in the future.”

Moving on to a player 11 years Gordon’s senior and who boasts 20 senior England caps in Fabian Delph, Benitez underlined the imperative of having the midfielder’s knowhow available following an extended layoff.

Two-times Premier League winner Delph played the second half against Wolves after a shoulder injury kept him out of action for more than two months.

“At the beginning of the season, we had too many players who had been injured for a long time in the past,” said Benitez.

“That was one of the big issues we had to tackle, to bring players back.

“Now we have Cenk Tosun and Delph, Jarrad Branthwaite is coming back.

“Hopefully, these players will have a big part in our success and we can win some games.

“It is really important for any squad to have players with experience – and experience of winning trophies is quite difficult

“These kinds of players [Delph] can help those around them, the young players, if they are a good example.

“We are talking about someone who wants to play and do well.

“Coming back with his desire and commitment, he is very helpful for the team.”

Benitez, speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, addressed a host of topics.

Demarai Gray, insisted the manager, “has to play very game, if he is available and playing well… because he is a young player with desire and commitment and quality and we need that”.

There was an admission that playing Spurs straight off the back of the Londoners hiring Antonio Conte as boss isn’t ideal – but “you have to compete against everyone at any time and we have to be ready”.

And the message over Everton looking inwards to correct recent lapses, essentially taking care of everything within the manager and players’ power, was the prevailing theme of Benitez’s briefing.

“I want my team to compete, to give everything on the pitch and play good football in a lot of games,” added Benitez.

“The reaction we saw in the second half at Wolves is how we want to play. We know where we are. The team has certain characteristics and we need to look to improve certain things. 

“The players know it [recent form] hasn't been good enough.

"We understand we are making mistakes at set-pieces, so we know we have to improve.

"The players need to take responsibility and these players are doing that.

"They have the commitment and are keen to learn – it is just a question of time before we can compete at the same level we were at the start of the season.”